


Ghost of Jupiter: The Journey Home

by juliesioux



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Bear Butte, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Love, OFBB, OFBB 2016, Olicity Big Bang, Olicity Big Bang 2016, Positano, Rite of Passage, Romantic love, Romanticism, Shower Sex, dream journeys, olicity - Freeform, olicity season 3.5, olicity smut, soul mates, spirit journey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-12 21:21:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7949608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliesioux/pseuds/juliesioux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to my Olicity Fic Bang 2016 fic.</p><p>This is the final instalment in my Ghost of Jupiter series detailing the global journey Oliver and Felicity take between season 3 and 4. It explores their relationship and their understandings of themselves and each other. It takes place in Positano (with a side journey to the Isle of Capri) and their individual motivations and desires.</p><p>I introduce a new, original character who has a fair amount to say to them as well as bringing back someone who has been with them since the first story. Yes, Coyote comes back to make a nuisance of herself for very good reason.</p><p>I love this story and I hope you do, too :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Positano

** **

**(thank you, @myshipperlife)**

 

 **Chapter One**  
Positano

 _Death had become a memory_  
_An echo that rang softly  
Off of each beat of his heart._

 

I

The first week they spent in Positano was like a fairy tale. Oliver had never seen Felicity so animated as when they were roaming the cobblestone alleyways together, looking for a cafe or wandering under lattices loaded with purple wisteria that shaded them from the sun. Sometimes she would wander in and out of boutiques while he shopped in the delicatessens and bakeries for their dinner that night. It wasn’t paradise like Bali. The feeling went deeper than that. It was heaven and the joy that filled his heart threatened to burst out of his skin like a living being.

The air always carried the delicate floral perfume and the heady scent of the sea wafting up from far below. The Amalfi coast was fast becoming his favourite place and he was secretly hoping they could stay there indefinitely. The villa they were going to rent wasn’t ready yet so they spent the week in a hotel high above the village. The view out over the Gulf of Naples was one filled with bright blues, lavenders, pinks and golds. The palette was muted but so achingly alive.

Earlier in their trip, they had driven through Parco Regionale dei Monte Lattari and spent a night in the newly built city of Pompeii before embarking on a journey through the ancient Roman city. It was slowly revealing itself from beneath thick layers of volcanic ash, soil and the buildings that had been built over them over the last two millennia.

At one exhibit, Felicity had been moved to tears by the burnt remains of lovers who were caught in the blast from Mt. Vesuvius. She had held his hand and let tears flow down her cheeks without a single care. No one made any comment, in fact other people in the museum were sniffing and hurriedly wiping their faces, but she stood in silent reverence and wept for lives cut far too short.

That night, back at the Pompeii hotel which lay in the shadow of Vesuvius, she had only wanted to be held and he was willing to comply. He, too, had been moved by the site of so many bodies contorted in death in what must have been unimaginable agony. So many women struggling to reach their children or spouses, so many children seeking the comfort of their parent’s arms. He had read about Pompeii in school but seeing the devastation and horror of it up close was sobering and heartbreaking.

And so he held her through the night and soothed her when the nightmares came, as he knew they would. In the morning, when dawn’s first light touched the volcano’s eastern slopes, Oliver slipped out of bed and went for a long run. He ran through modern streets, silent and still, and ancient ones that seemed alive and in constant motion. He could feel the heat of bodies and life all around him the closer he got to the ancient amphitheatre and stopped to watch the sun rise above it.

Two hours later, amazing Italian coffee and pastries in hand, he was back in the hotel room. Unsurprisingly, Felicity was still asleep. He put her coffee on the bedside table and headed in to take a shower. He would let the coffee’s aroma do its work.

By the time he was dressed, Felicity was up and sitting on the bed eating the pastry and drinking the coffee with a look of pure bliss on her face.

“Good morning,” he said quietly as he crossed over to lean down and give her a quick kiss.  
“Mmmmm,” she hummed as she smiled up at him, “How was your run? Oh, this coffee? Is AMAZING. We definitely need to stop by whatever cafe you found it in and get more.”  
“The run was good,” he laughed, “but maybe we should get decaf.”  
“That is not even remotely funny, Oliver.”

Laughing, he snatched the last bit of sfogliatelle from her hands and finished it on one bite. The pastry was still warm and the ricotta filling was perfectly sweet and smooth. He wished he could go back and get some more but the day was wasting and they had a long trek back to Positano.

“Oliver. Never take my pastries from me. Ever,” she said in mock seriousness as she reached for the only one left in the small box he had carried back to the hotel.  
“Felicity,” he warned, “that one is mine.”  
“Oh yeah?”  
“Yeah.”  
“What will you do for me so that I don’t eat it?”  
“More like to you.”  
“That sounds vague, but deal,” she said with a small smile while holding the box out for him.

Oliver sprawled out on the bed next to her and ate the sfogliatelle with a smile. He was starving after his run and while he knew he should be eating the yogurt and fruit in the small fridge in their suite, the smell of the fresh baked pastry was far too tempting.

“You should get up and get ready, we have a long drive back if you want to go all around the coast.”  
“It isn’t that that long. Besides,” she said as she crawled towards him, “we have a deal.”  
“I never said when I would be willing to fulfil it.”  
“You. Jerk.”  
“What?” he laughed, “You were quick to jump on the deal before hammering it out!”  
“Fine. I’ll get ready,” she mock-grumbled, “Is the villa going to be ready at two or three today?”  
“Three pm, I think. We have lots of time but it takes you forever to get ready.”  
“Still with the desire to shove your feet in the mouth, I see.”  
“Damnit. As soon as I said it…”

Felicity’s laugh trailed behind her as she made her way to the washroom to shower and change.

 

II

The drive around Sorrento wasn’t a long one by any stretch of the imagination but Oliver wanted to be sure they had time to stop and enjoy whatever site Felicity wanted to see. He was mindful that while he had been given so many opportunities to travel and see the world growing up with billionaire parents, Felicity had not been so lucky.

She spoke so fondly of certain portions of her childhood but he knew she had missed out. Not on love and support but on the privileges a bottomless bank account could grant. She never once complained about her mom or how she grew up in Vegas, but there was a certain wistfulness to how she spoke of the places she wanted to see when she was a little girl. He couldn’t give her space camp or the moon but he could make their time in Italy a fairy tale for her. Even if that was just lunch in a tiny seaside cafe outside Sorrento.

“Lunch was amazing,” she sighed as they got back into the car, “I love the food in this part of Italy. It is so fresh and light.”  
“I know. Making dinner tonight should be easy, I’ll just need to find a store after we settle in.”  
“We can park the car at the villa and wander into the village.”  
“Felicity,” he said with a quiet chuckle, “that will involve going down the mountain side and then back up it.”  
“Ok, you can wander into the village.”

Oliver laughed as he pulled the car back onto the highway. She would come with him, he knew that, but it never failed to amuse him how much she hated physical exercise. The villa was a good kilometre or so away from the centre of village, most of that downhill, so he was going to have to really work to get her to come with him.

The drive back to Positano took them along a beautiful coastal road that meandered through small villages,sometimes narrowing from a two lane to single lane road. Oliver slowed down, for safety’s sake, but also because the scenery was beautiful and he wanted Felicity to enjoy the ride. Towards the inside of the peninsula were old mountains, older than old, the result of ancient volcanoes and time. They sheltered grape orchards, lemon groves and small fields filled with rows of vegetables.

As they rounded one particularly narrow switchback, the Gulf of Napoli greeted them. The ocean was that rich shade of blue only seen in the Mediterranean, Felicity had called it Egyptian blue, and it was deep and timeless like the mountains that rose up from beneath the waves. Oliver was actually looking forward to swimming in it with her. He hoped they might have a chance for a night at least once since they missed their opportunity in Bali.

Until then, they enjoyed the drive, high above the ocean on the roadway that hugged the rocky cliffside. It was early afternoon so traffic was light and they were able to stop at scenic overlooks to enjoy the warm ocean breeze, which carried on it the floral perfume of wildflowers growing far below them and the sharp, salty scent of the ocean itself.

Shortly after 3 pm, after climbing back up into the seaside mountains and through a series of small villages and narrowing roads lined with tourist buses and parked cars, they turned off the main road and headed down a narrow one way street. Oliver geared down and slowed to a crawl as they passed cafes with seating on both sides of the road, grocery stores, delicatessens, boutiques, tiny hotels and narrow roads that lead down to the ferry.

Slowly, they made their way through the confusing interconnecting one way streets of Positano to circle round the tightly packed village. Eventually, they found themselves with family homes on one side and nothing but a view of the bay on the other. The villa they were going to be calling home for the next month was accessible by a short, winding driveway that took them down closer to the ocean.

“Felicity,” he breathed in awe as they pulled up in front of the whitewashed stone and stucco structure, “This place is perfect.”

She had outdone herself this time. The villa was located at least a further 200 metres from the main road down a small flight of Roman stairs. He could barely see the roof of it from above as it was shaded completely by the surrounding grove of lemon trees. The air here smelled like citrus and wisteria and the sunlight that streamed in seemed to pour through like rain, drenching everything it touched.

Felicity took his hand and pulled him through the front door into the villa. The whitewashed walls and Mediterranean blue and white tiles created a soft glow within its walls. He could smell the ocean on the breeze and followed Felicity’s lead as she continued to pull him through their temporary home. The terrace, which seemed so precariously perched on the seaside cliff, overlooked the Gulf of Napoli and the village to the north but otherwise, they had no neighbours within 500 yards at least. The lemon grove provided shade and the pergola would keep the afternoon sun from baking them on the terrace.

“Felicity, this is…,” he trailed off as he watched the water in the gulf deepen from turquoise to lapis.  
“I know, right? The pictures I saw of it just didn’t do it justice.”  
“Do we really have to leave?”  
“Depends on how many knots my calves have in them after tomorrow,” she chuckled warily as she hugged him.  
“I’m going to check out the kitchen,” he said as he kissed the top of her head.  
“Of course you are. I’m going to see if our bags arrived. I didn’t see them when we came in.”  
“Hey! Is that our pool?” he exclaimed.  
“Yup and those stairs kind of hidden by the flowering bush which I think is an azalea? That leads to yet another private beach just for us.”

Oliver let out a low whistle. “You are earning your special treat.”  
“Go check the kitchen,” she laughed.

Oliver made his way into a charming Mediterranean galley style kitchen full of light, white marble and food. The people who rented them the villa had gone shopping for them and stocked the kitchen with fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese, olive oil, coffee, wine and everything his newly born chef’s heart could desire.

He saw what he would make for dinner and went to find Felicity.

“Felicity,” he called out, “where is the bedroom?”  
“To your right!” she called back.  
“Wow,” he exclaimed, “this is some room.”  
“I know,” she yawned as she laid down on the king sized bed, “go look out the balcony.”  
“There’s a balcony?” he asked as he crossed the room to an open door.

He crossed through a deep, stonewalled doorway and under a lattice covered with a flowering vine that smelled like oranges and out onto a small stone balcony that presented the most glorious view of the Gulf he had seen to date. All he saw was water, brilliantly blue and alive with motion, and an impossibly vast sky rising from the edge of the world.

It was like the earth was putting on a show and it was just for them.

“So we can stay forever, right?” he asked as he crawled onto the bed beside her .  
“It is tempting, isn’t it?”  
“It is,” he smiled down at her.  
“Shouldn’t we get going to the store?” she asked sleepily.  
“The kitchen is fully stocked,” he said as he ran his hand over her stomach.  
“Really? With coffee and wine?” she asked in a husky voice.  
“With food and wine and all the things I need to make dinner and breakfast tomorrow,” he said between light kisses on her neck.  
“Maybe we should go for a swim,” she whispered.  
“Maybe we should,” he smiled and kissed her with just enough passion and desire to get what he really wanted.

He didn’t have to wait long as he felt her hand slowly travel up his shirt, spending time on every ridge of muscle and ropey scar, stripping him bare. Her tongue, so velvety and smooth, twisted around his in a gentle dance that was at once familiar and exhilaratingly new.

“Did our bags make it safely?” he managed to whisper in her ear just as her hands traveled under the waistband of his pants.  
“Mmm hmmmm,” she hummed into his neck sending electric chills up his spine.  
“God, Felicity,” were his last coherent words until it was time to make dinner.

 

III

“Felicity!” he called from the kitchen. When he heard no response after a minute, he poked his head out into the living room and saw that she was on the terrace, watching the sunset from the couch under the pergola. She was swaying ever so slightly to the music he had put on the ancient stereo in the livingroom.

He stood for a moment in the living room and watched her. The sunset here was so different from the ones in Bali. Here the colours were more pastel, gentle and in hues of lavender, pink, and gold. The way they washed over the village and over Felicity as she quietly, almost reverently, watched the day fade into night, shifted and changed as though the breeze could move them like paint on a canvas.

“Hey beautiful,” he said gently from the open doorway, “dinner’s ready.”  
“What did you make?” she asked as she joined him at the dining table.  
“You’ll see,” he answered and took her hand and kissed it.  
“I don’t know where you learned to cook like this but I am just so, so, so happy you did.”  
“Sit down,” he laughed and held out her chair for her.  
“Oooo! Such a gentleman!”

Oliver just shook his head and went in to get their dinner of a fresh Caprese salad and Spaghetti con le vongole. He had made the spaghetti by hand and was feeling especially proud of it and had paired it all with a crisp white wine that he had put in the fridge shortly after they arrived.

“Oliver, you are amazing. This meal is amazing,” she said between bites.  
“I thought I’d take advantage of the pantry and the food they bought for us. We really need to thank them.”  
“Did you make this spaghetti by hand?”  
“Yes, I did.”  
“I love you.”  
“You love my cooking.”  
“That, too,” she smiled as she reached for his hand.  
“I’m going to like staying here,” he smiled back as he laced their fingers together.  
“I’m going to need my hand back because I want to finish this food,” she chuckled.

Oliver released her hand and got up. He gave her a quick kiss and made his way back into the kitchen to put away the leftovers.

“We need to get you a sexy apron,” she called after him, “something with a sexy man’s torso on it or one that says Kiss The Archer!”  
Oliver popped his head into the living room and said, “Not a chance, Ms. Smoak, not a chance.”  
Felicity’s laugh followed his retreat back into the warm confines of the kitchen.

By the time he came back into the living room with a bowlful of fresh cut peaches for dessert, she was standing out on the terrace watching the village come to life. She was wearing a bright turquoise dress he had never seen before and looked like a glittering jewel against the deepening black backdrop of the night sky.

Putting the peaches down, he quietly crossed the terrace and wrapped her in his arms. She leaned back into him with a satisfied hum. She still smelled like Bali but the surrounding lemon groves added a spicy, citrus scent to the air around them, complementing the coconut shampoo she was using. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed her deep into his lungs as though to commit her scent to memory.

“I love this dress on you,” he whispered in her ear. He felt her involuntary shiver and bit back a chuckle. He knew that when he did that it was basically foreplay for her.  
“I found it on our last day in Bali. It reminded me of the colour of the lake in our dream.”  
“I’m glad you bought it. You look amazing in this colour,” he hummed as he ran one hand down the length of her body. He felt the hitch in her breathing, the fluttering of muscles in her abdomen and pulled her closer to him.  
“We should go into town tomorrow for dinner,” she said somewhat breathlessly.  
“Find a little out of the way cafe that looks out over the ocean?” he asked as he found the pulse point under her right ear that sent her heart racing.  
“Mmm Hmm…” she sighed.

Oliver anchored her to him with his left arm around her waist and his lips on her neck. Slowly, he reached down, lifted the hem of her dress and ran his hand up the length of her leg. He heard her hum in agreement with his actions and felt her shift so that she could move her legs ever so slightly apart.

“Is this dessert?” she whispered.  
“I actually cut up some fresh peaches for that.”  
“Maybe we could have those later...oh!” she gasped as he rubbed her through her underwear.  
“As a treat?”  
“Mmmmm...yeah....a treat…”

Oliver continued to use the fabric of her underwear to create tension and friction against her clit. He could feel how wet she was through the thin silky material as he pushed into her, causing her to knees to shake. She had been gripping his arm but now one hand found its way up to his head and she held on to keep herself from falling.

Gently, he slipped his hand under the elastic waistband and moved his fingers down her length, circling her clit and back up again. He repeated the pattern a few more times before gently easing first one finger and then another into her. She shuddered out a moan and rocked her hips against his hand. Oliver maintained a steady rhythm but increased the pressure of his hand against her.

“Oh...God…,” she gasped, “don’t...don’t stop...don’t…”

Oliver felt her body pulse and a powerful clenching around his fingers that signaled she was about to orgasm. He loved that feeling whether it was around his fingers, cock or tongue. Knowing her body’s rhythms let him draw out or cut short what he was doing. Deliberately, in order to extend the moment, he withdrew his hand from under her dress and swept her up into his arms.

“What? Why did you stop? I said don’t stop!” she groaned.  
“Remember our deal?” he asked as he walked to their bedroom.  
“Oh, right. Continue with whatever it is you have planned, good sir.”

Oliver laid her down on the bed, took off her glasses and kissed her. He wanted to kiss her tenderly at first but the minute he touched her lips with his tongue, she opened up to him completely. He loved the way she sucked on his bottom lip, the way she took possession of him by simply exploring his mouth with her tongue. When he finally broke free to catch his breath, she gently took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead.

For just one quiet moment they remained silent and motionless, lost in each other’s eyes. Ever since their foray into the desert, they sometimes found themselves lost in the galaxies that they knew swirled in the other. Oliver once told her that he could see the beginning of the universe in her eyes. She had laughed, thinking it a grand romantic gesture, but there were times, times like these, when he looked into the darkened blue of her eyes and saw sparks of light, the birth of stars, and all that he could ever want or hope for. He loved her with every cell in his body.

Without a word, Oliver eased down her body while pushing her dress up to her waist. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he used the width of his shoulders to push her legs apart and then without removing her underwear, he covered her with his mouth and gently used his tongue to press against her sensitive clit.

“Ol..Oliver...what…,” she stuttered before her head fell back and her eyes closed. She gave into the increasing pressure of his tongue and mouth and the waves of pleasure it caused to roll over and through her.

When he felt her thighs start to tremble, he knew she getting close. Once again he stopped and eased her panties down and off her body. Sitting up, he removed his shirt and helped her with her dress. She was braless, which drove him wild regardless of the day or location, and in the dim light of the bedroom, she glowed like the moon.

“I think we should make deals more often,” she murmured.  
“I do, too,” he replied as he laid a tender kiss on the inside of her thigh. Gently, he ran his fingers across her, opening her most secret part to him.  
“God, Oliver,” she sighed, “I can’t take another fake out.”  
“Don’t worry, I think I am ready to let you go the distance.”

She was laughing quietly when he slowly eased two of his fingers inside her. Her breathing immediately changed and she let out a low moan as he slowly ran his tongue around her clit, feeling the silky smoothness of her on his lips. He moved his fingers at a slow, steady pace as he sucked and licked and rasped his tongue against her.

“Just like that...just...oh god...Oliver…” she groaned.

He could feel the way her body was starting to react to every little thing he was doing, so he slowly pulled his fingers free just as she started to pulse and clench down on them. Before she could protest, he slowly thrust his tongue inside her before returning to circle and suck her clit. She was so close, he had seen her reach this point so many times, it would just take a little longer, a little bit more encouragement on his part and she would ride out the wave she was on.

Felicity reached down for his hands. Lacing their fingers together, she held on as she moved her hips in time to how he was sucking and rasping his tongue against her sensitive nub. Her thighs started to tremble and he felt of flood of warmth against his chin. Seconds later she shuddered and let out a long, low moan. It was so primal, from a place so deep within her that he momentarily lost himself in it.

“Oliver,” she gasped, “Oh God…”  
“Do you want me to stop?”  
“Oh God no…Oliver, I want….you…,” she whispered.  
“Now?”  
“...yes,” she said softly.

Oliver smiled at her. Wiping his face with his hand, he took off his pants and boxer briefs. She watched him from behind half closed eyes, a slight smile curling up her perfect lips.

“You are so beautiful,” she said quietly.  
“Me?”  
“Yes, you.”  
“Even with all the scars?” he asked as he laid down on top of her.  
“Yes. They’re part of you and I love all of you,” she murmured against his mouth, capturing his lips as he opened them to speak. Her kiss was deep and urgent. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and he knew she was tasting herself on his lips.

Oliver pushed his legs up, so that they spread hers wide apart, so wide her eyes flew open in surprise. Entwining their fingers, he raised her arms above her head, stretching her torso towards the headboard while simultaneously pinning her lower body under him so that she was being pulled gently in both directions. He moved his hips back just enough so that his erect cock rubbed down the length of her, finding her entrance naturally. With a gentle push, he eased into her, feeling the velvety softness of her wrap around him.

“Mmmmm...God…,” she moaned.  
“I’m going to start answering to that name soon,” he chuckled as he kissed her neck.  
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Mister,” she laughed.

With a small thrust, he buried himself all the way inside her and stayed there while he reached for one of the large pillows on the bed. Wrapping one arm under her hips, he easily lifted her and slipped the pillow underneath her.

“Wait, what are you…Oh...nevermind,” she gasped.  
“You like?”  
“Uh huh.”  
“What no God talk?”  
“You need to stop talking and focus.”

Oliver hummed a small laugh into the base of her throat and began a series of small, deep thrusts that took her breath away. Just by changing the angle of her hips, he was able to penetrate deeper into her and he lost himself in the way her body accommodated him. She fit like a glove around him and he could tell by the way her body was beginning to tense and pulse around him that she was heading towards yet another orgasm.

Oliver slowed his body and rocked his hips against her. He felt that delicious clenching of powerful muscles around his now throbbing cock and then she shuddered and pushed her hips up against him as she lost herself to her climax. She had wrapped her arms around him and was tracing different pathways across his back by following the ropey ridges of his scars. It felt like his skin was being brushed smooth under her fingertips.

“God...don’t stop…,” she panted.

Oliver pulled out a few inches and then thrust back inside her, staying deep where he knew she liked him. He remembered the first time he made love to her this way, she had gripped him so hard she left bruises on his arms, all because he was able to stroke a spot within her that pushed her into ecstasy. His arms were starting to shake from holding himself up, so he lowered himself gently down while watching her come undone with each deep thrust.

“God, Felicity, you are so beautiful…,” he whispered in her ear.”  


Oliver found the pulse point under her left ear and slowly traced it with the tip of his tongue. He was moving headlong towards his own release but was doing all he could to not come until she was ready. It was a selflessness he had never experienced before with any other woman. Her pleasure was now paramount for him and always would be.

“God...Oliver...harder, please just a little harder…,” she moaned into his neck, “I love you…”

He was only too happy to comply as he could feel her body squeezing down hard around his painfully hard cock. He felt her arch her back, pushing into him with all her might and the orgasm that took her claimed him as well. His mind went blank and he felt his consciousness fling itself across time and space. All that mattered was her and he whispered her name over and over like an invocation as the pressure in his lower pelvis uncoiled into a stream of hot life inside her.

He could still feel the powerful contractions and pulsing of her body around him. Felicity’s body shuddered as tremors rolled through her. She was a force of nature in these quiet moments. So he waited for the earthquake within her to subside before slowly pulling himself free and laying down next to her.

These moments were so incredibly special to him. He loved watching her slowly return to herself and the way she would shine like a star in the dim light. Instinctively, he pulled her closer to him and lightly massaged her back until she was able to open her eyes.

“Oliver,” she said quietly in a voice thick with emotion, “I love you.”  
“I love you, too,” he smiled.  
“So, those peaches aren’t going to eat themselves.”  
“How am I not surprised that you are thinking about food?”  
“I am slick with sweat, Oliver, I burned a whole bunch of calories!”  
Laughing, Oliver leaned over and kissed her soundly before getting up.

“Meet me in the shower,” she called after him.

Oliver felt the heat in his blood begin to build again, the same mounting pressure that he felt the entire ten days in Bali. She knew exactly what she was doing and took great pleasure in teasing him to see just what he would do. Padding barefoot out into the living room, he closed the terrace doors and grabbed the bowl of peaches.

After washing him clean, Felicity had managed to stroke him to a state past hardness. She used her strong, small hands to pull him to completion, not wanting him to do anything except hold onto the walls to hold himself up. He wasn’t used to the sensation of water coursing down his body while being stroked so confidently by hands other than his own. She licked water droplets from his chest as she firmly ran her hands up and down his throbbing cock, causing his legs to tremble and his mind to shatter. When he came, it was with her name on his lips and al growl deep in his throat.

Twenty minutes later, peaches finished, they stumbled to bed. Sleep came quickly to them in the moon lit room.

 

IV

_Oliver turned over some time in the night and opened his eyes to a surreal scene. The sky was the deep sapphire blue of twilight, casting a grey light that turned everything fuzzy around the edges and indistinct. The moon was nowhere to be seen in the sky above him but he knew he was no longer in Italy._

_His dream had scooped him up and dumped him somewhere where the sky touched the horizons to the east and west and also stretched north to south. It was dizzying and exhilarating but it wasn’t familiar. He tried to look for any landmark or shape in the distance to let him figure out where he was._

_He saw a flash of orange in the distance that danced and moved. Then the acrid smell of a campfire floated to him on the gentle but persistent breeze that was blowing over the new landscape he was on._

_Well, that’s something, he thought. At least there is the possibility of help. Maybe Manaba is back._

_Then, somewhere to his left, came the soft call of Coyote’s song._

_A smile spread across Oliver’s face. Felicity would be so jealous when he told her about this dream. She loved Coyote, for some reason. She had embraced the improbability of her existence and welcomed the chaos she seemed to be a herald of._

_At the moment, all she was doing was howling at the not yet risen moon. Nothing she did was in the right order and Oliver was just starting to understand why._

_Right now, as his dreamscape was beginning to shift in colour, he tried to figure out where he was standing. The ground was hard packed and lacked vegetation. He couldn’t see a tree or bush but he sensed there were large hills, maybe buttes, but not mountains. He began to wonder if he was in South Dakota. He had only been there once when he was a teenager and had just a hint of a memory of his time there._

_He sat down on what he thought was a large boulder. He couldn’t see the ground very well and was curious to see what the moon would reveal to him. Coyote was getting closer based on the loudness of her yips and barks out in the encroaching darkness._

_“Come closer,” he called out quietly, “come and sit with me a while.”_

_Coyote snorted, like she was laughing, and scampered a short distance away. There was just enough light for him to see that she was shifting between watching him and the campfire in the distance._

_Oliver was tired and cold in his dream. He missed Felicity and her insight into what was happening around him. As if in answer, the sky burst into life and Coyote howled at the now visible moon. Her song rang off of unseen hill sides and echoed through distant canyons. The stars blazed with their white ghost light and the cosmic dance continued._

_For all the beauty that surrounded him, the darkness unleashed it’s madness and a sweeping wave of grief poured over Oliver. His body felt weighted down, caked and coated with it. Tears were streaming down his face and all he could do was live in it, let it inhabit his body until every cell was infused with its heavy presence._

_He threw his head back and mourned in one long, soul destroying howl. All the grief and pain he was carrying welled up and out of his body. It felt like a tide pouring out of his soul, emptying him until there was nothing left but relief. Oliver was dizzy from it and rested his head in his hands._

_A short while later, he felt a gentle lick on his arm as Coyote greeted him. She nuzzled his arm for just one tender moment then sprang away into the darkness of his dream. Oliver closed his eyes and waited for dawn._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is just a lovely table setting chapter. Oliver and Felicity tentatively stick their toes in the ocean and their relationship and begin the task of truly connecting.
> 
> This is just a romantic, breezy chapter that felt lovely to write.

**Chapter Two**

  
_Seaside breezes_  
 _Mask an underlying tension_  
 _A tornado of heat and sand._

I

Felicity’s sleep that first night was restless and full of the sound of pounding waves and strange echoes. She tossed and turned and woke up countless times until she gave up trying to sleep, silently got up and quietly wandered out onto the terrace. She could hear the crash of the waves hitting the shore below but was instantly entranced by the moon which hung low and full in the late night sky.

Oliver was soundly asleep. She knew his long runs and workouts helped him to get to that place of exhaustion where all he could do was sleep, but he could sleep anywhere. New bed? No problem. New country? No problem. New time zone? No problem.

It was basically sorcery and as punishment she was going to read Harry Potter to him on the beach. Or make him read it to her. Her Kindle was loaded up and ready to go, so all she needed was a chance to whip it out and hand it over.

Wrapping herself in a blanket, she laid sat down on the couch under the pergola and took a deep breath. The air still smelled like wisteria, lemons and the ocean. It was a gentle, almost balmy scent, not cloying and suffocating like the jungle perfume in Bali. The Amalfi coast was cool and inviting in ways that the heat in Bali wasn’t. She loved the small island for a number of reasons, but the weather wasn’t one of them.

She wasn’t sure what was nagging at her but it had her twisting around and around mentally and physically. She kept thinking about the lava encased bodies at the museums in Pompeii. The contorted bodies and reaching hands. Some bodies so impossibly small yet still seeking their loved ones. Felicity pulled the blanket tighter around her and silently wished for Oliver to wake up.

In that moment, as if in answer to her silent wish, Oliver let out a long, low mournful howl. The hair on the back of Felicity’s neck stood up and she sprang to her feet in alarm. She had never heard him do that before and it wrenched at her heart but she had to be careful when it came to his dreams and nightmares. She had been hurt by him in the past and knew to give him a wide berth until he had fully reclaimed his waking state.

Softly, she crept back into the now moonlit room and waited in the doorway. Oliver’s face was illuminated by the the glow and she was alarmed to see that tears were coursing down his cheeks. Whatever he was dreaming about was bad so she sat down on the love seat across from the bed and waited for his breathing to even out and the tears to stop.

She retreated to the living room couch to wait until he awoke but eventually dozed off into a fitful sleep. Shortly before the first light of dawn, she heard was Oliver softly calling to her.

“Hey, come back to bed.”  
“Hmm? How’d I get over here?”  
“I don’t know,” he chucked quietly, “but there you are. Now come here.”  
“You howled. Like a coyote. In your sleep,” she mumbled as she crawled back under the covers with him.  
“I did what?” he exclaimed.  
“Howled. Long and mournful. Oliver,” she said as she sat up and looked down at him, “you were crying.”  
“I have no idea what I was dreaming about...have I ever done that before?”  
“No, not that I remember. You were so quiet…,” she said as she nestled into him. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, steady and strong, and let it lull her back to sleep. Somewhere between her last conscious thought and the first glimpse of her dream world, she felt Oliver press a long, tender kiss to her head and the gentle pressure of his hand on her back.

She had never felt so safe and loved before in her life.

 

II

 

“Come on, Smoak,” Oliver cajoled, “It’s past 9 am. Time to get up.”  
“No.”  
“Come on,” he laughed, “I’ve made breakfast and here’s your morning coffee.”  
“Well…,” she said, sitting up, “I guess I could consider it. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”  
“I know. I’m sorry,” he said as he sat the mug of coffee on the bedside table, “I have no idea what was going on with me last night but I am sorry that it woke you up.”  
“It’s not your fault, Oliver,” she said with a sleepy yawn, “Now hand me that mug.”  
“Only if you promise to get up and come join me on the terrace.”  
“Now? Or in an hour?”  
“Now.”  
“Ugh, fine.”

Laughing at her, Oliver threw her robe on the bed and left the room. She knew he was because he had made something delicious for breakfast and he wanted to impress her. He was getting better and better at cooking but sometimes she just really wanted to sleep in.

“Ok, what is it you want me out here for at such an ungodly hour?” she asked as she settled on the couch under the pergola.  
“Just sit there and drink your coffee while I go get breakfast.”  
“I’m out of coffee.”  
“Refill coming up!”  
And with that, he was gone into the kitchen where she heard the sound of cutlery being taken out of the drawer and then the metallic clang of a serving tray. She was about to get pampered and she loved it.

With an exaggerated flourish, Oliver placed the tray in front of her. It was loaded with sfogliatella, tiny cups of espresso and strawberries. Where he found the sfogliatella, she didn’t know but it was obvious he had been up and out long before he finally decided to venture into the bedroom to wake her up. Not that she would ever complain but her waistline might unless she started exercising.

“Wait,” she said around a mouthful of sweet ricotta filling, “are you trying to fatten me up so that I start exercising with you?”  
“What?” he choked.  
“Are you, Oliver Jonas Queen, trying to fatten me up so that I start exercising with you?” she asked.  
“No!” he exclaimed, “Well, ok maybe just a little bit.”  
“You are adorable. But that will never happen,” she laughed as she took a bite of the pastry.  
“So what should we do today?”  
“Swim in the ocean?”  
“Deal. Then what?”  
“Have a nap?”  
“Deal. And then what?”  
“Have lunch?”  
“Dea- wait, all that before lunch?”  
“Yup!”  
“Ok. Then what?”  
“We go into town after lunch.”

Oliver thought about it for a moment then nodded. “Deal.”

Finishing the last bite of her pastry, Felicity leaned over and kissed Oliver on the cheek. “Thanks for a lovely breakfast.”  
“You are welcome.”  
“Ok, I’m going to get changed and you go put your swim trunks on. I want to get into the ocean!”  
“Felicity, it is only 10 am.”  
“I know! What are we still doing up here?”  
“Are you going to wear that bikini you bought in Bali?”

Eyeing him up, Felicity nodded slowly. Oliver got up, gathered all the dishes and went inside.  
From the doorway, Oliver called back to her, “Give me 2 minutes.”

Laughing, Felicity wandered back into the bedroom and grabbed the bits of string that passed for a bikini and headed into the bathroom to change. She had seen the bikini in a stall in one of the markets in Denpasar and had almost passed on it until she saw the look in Oliver’s eyes when he saw her holding it up.

His eyes had momentarily darkened and a soft flush had crept up his neck before he regained control of himself. Felicity smiled and handed over the money and tucked it into her bag.

Now, as she put it on, she was glad they had a private beach and pool. It left very little to the imagination.

“Ready to go, Oliver?” she called out.  
“Yup!” came his reply from the terrace.

Taking a deep breath, and grabbing her sunglasses, Felicity went out to meet him.

“WOW!” he exclaimed.  
“You like?” she asked shyly.  
“I basically can’t remember my own name.”  
“Knock it off, Merlyn.”  
“Oh, I think we need to have a conversation about play names,” he growled.  
“Let’s go, Tommy, the day is wasting,” she laughed as she made her way down the ancient stairs to their small patch of beach.

If you could call it a beach. It was maybe 50 square feet of pebbly, black volcanic sand cut out of the rock. The air was already heating up from the morning sun and the breeze was cool. Felicity spread out their huge beach towels and then immediately headed towards the water. She could no longer bear to ignore the call of the sea.

“How is it?” Oliver called after her.  
“Come in and find out!”

She watched a huge smile spread over his face and watched him strip down to his swim trunks and wade into the water. He was like a bronzed God in the Amalfi sunlight. His scars and tattoos only added to the mystery that was Oliver, the Hood, the Arrow. He wore his identities like suits of armour, each one made of tempered steel. But he was evolving, changing right in front of her, and each new day brought with it a new reveal. She hoped cleaning was something he would take to like cooking.

“Yikes!” he yelped, “This water is not as warm as Bali’s.”  
“You get used to it,” she said as she tread water a few metres from shore.

With strong, sure strokes, Oliver swam out to her and floated, face up to the sun.

“This is heaven,” he murmured.  
“I know. The water is so different here. Almost like it is...I don’t know, like a spa treatment.”  
“What should we do this afternoon? The shops close up for a few hours after 1 pm, I think. Maybe we could wander in for an early dinner?”  
“We could do that,” she agreed as laid her arms across his torso, effectively using him as a floatation device, “What do you want to do for lunch?”  
“I have that covered,” he said as he put his hand on the top of her head and made as though to push her under the water.  
“DON’T YOU DARE, OLIVER QUEEN!” she shouted as she swam away from him as fast as she could.

Oliver laughed so hard he started to choke.

The next three hours were spent in a sun-drenched haze. Between short naps, reapplying sunscreen and quick dips in the ocean, they talked about the team. Oliver was concerned about Thea and Felicity was concerned about Diggle. They had left things amongst them in such uncertainty. She wanted nothing more than to heal the relationship between Oliver and Diggle. They were both so important to her in their own ways and seeing them so fractured was slowly breaking her heart.

Oliver seemed to be handling it well, but he was a master at compartmentalization. Things didn’t touch him unless he wanted them to. His experience with Diggle and Lyla was behind a locked door that connected to the incidents in Nanda Parbat but there was no way they would ever meet unless he wanted them to.

She made a quiet vow to herself that she would be there when those walls came down and the doors blew off their hinges. She could feel the tension in his body, how it hummed and sparked under his skin, whenever she approached the topics. They were slowly finding their way towards those closed doors but it wasn’t something she could rush him with just yet.

“Hey,” he said quietly, “I think it might be time to go up for lunch.”  
“It is getting cooler,” she murmured.  
“The sun is edging behind the mountains to the south. We are pretty sheltered here.”  
“I thought the sand would be uncomfortable but I feel like I have had a hot stone massage.”  
“This is pretty amazing,” he agreed as he got up, “but I am starving. Let’s go, Smoak!”  
“Hand me my robe?”  
“Nope.”  
“Why?” she said, sitting up and looking up at him.  
“Because you are drop dead gorgeous in that bikini and I really want to see you in it and not in some robe.”  
“But the robe is see-through!”  
“Felicity, that bikini will pay off later tonight.”  
“Fine,” she grumbled as she got up, “but if I get stung by a bee, I will make you pay.”  
“I have absolutely no doubt that you will look good while making me suffer...if you wear that bikini.”  
“Oliver…” she warned.

He chuckled and took her by the hand and up they climbed to their villa for lunch.

 

III

“That lunch was amazing. I am saying that a lot but holy, Oliver...you know what you are doing in the kitchen,” she said, leaning back on the couch and patting her belly.  
“I enjoy it. It feels good to know that I can look after you in that way. I feel...I don’t know...productive.”

Felicity shifted over on the couch so that she was sitting right beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t say anything, all she did was take his hands in hers and lightly stroke the scars on the backs of them, the callouses on his fingers from eight years of bows and arrows, the slightly swollen knuckles from fights. She brought them up to her lips and kissed every knuckle, every scar, and his palms.

“Oliver,” she said quietly, “you look after me in all the ways that matter and I look after you in all the ways that matter. Never feel like you need to be anything more than who you are.”

Oliver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He didn’t make any move to do anything else but hold her to him. Eventually he covered them with a blanket and they settled into a peaceful silence, watched the day slowly pass and fell into a sun induced deep sleep.

What woke them up was the long, low horn of the ferry sounding it’s call as it left for Capri. The sun was casting long shadows and the air was sweet with the scent of Femminello St. Teresa lemons and wisteria. Felicity stretched and yawned loudly, hoping that would wake Oliver up.

“I think it must be after 4 pm,” she said, “ Come on, Queen. I’m going to go have a shower. Don’t come in though. Not this time.”  
“Why?” he said sleepily as he ran a hand down her back, “Don’t you want me to wash your back?”  
“Normally, yes, but I have lady things to do.”

Oliver barked out a loud laugh as she went inside to the master bath.

“I’ll use the other bathroom,” he called, “We haven’t even looked in the second bedroom yet.”  
“Let me know if you find a tub!”

Twenty minutes later, showered and changed into a pale pink cotton dress, Felicity made her way back out onto the terrace in search of Oliver.

“So, did you find a tub?”  
“Yup.”  
“And? Verdict?”  
“You have got to see it,” he said, taking her by the hand and leading her into the second bedroom.  
“You look handsome in civilian clothes,” she said, eyeing him up and down. He did look good in a light blue cotton shirt and summer weight blue jeans.  
“You like this?”  
“Well, yeah. You should wear blue more often and wow! This is a nice room, too! Look at that view!” she breathed as she looked out the window and the view of Positano in the distance.  
“Yeah, it is something else but come on,” he said as he tugged gently at her arm, “come and see.”

With a smile and shake of her head, Felicity followed Oliver into the attached bath and gasped.

One whole wall was a window. No covering, no blinds, just a floor to ceiling window that overlooked their private cove below with the cliffside sheltering it to the east. The tub was set into the floor. It took her a moment to really see it because she couldn’t figure out what the stairs were for or where they lead to. It wasn’t as big as the one in Bali, but it was definitely big enough to accommodate them both. It was made out of polished stone and was temperature controlled. It was unique and magnificent. Felicity could imagine a bath by candlelight, watching the stars over the Tyrrhenian Sea.

“Later. You and me. In that,” was all she said.  
“Not now?”  
“Oliver, we need to go for a walk, fuel up and then make our way back here.”  
“Why do you enjoy torturing me like this?”  
“It’s torture for me, too, you know!”  
“It doesn’t show.”  
“...”  
“Ok, ok,” he laughed, “Let’s go do that whole walking thing.”  
“Are you sure we can’t drive?”  
“You saw the streets. Positano isn’t exactly a sprawling suburbia.”  
“Ok, ok. Let me grab my wrap and we can head in.”  
“Don’t wear heels.”  
“Do I look suicidal?”  
“You should wear that bikini. Later.”  
“Good grief, you and that bikini!” she laughed as she left the room.

 

IV

The walk into the village was mostly downhill, much to Felicity’s delight, and they explored narrow side streets, interconnecting alleyways and browsed through shops and acted like tourists for an hour until hunger pangs turned into growls.

They saw that the cafes and restaurants in the centre of the village were full of diners and pushed further afield, looking for something quieter, more intimate and less populated. They weren’t really having any luck but decided to go down one last narrow cobblestone street before turning back for home when they heard music floating down from somewhere above their heads and then the enticing aroma of garlic, basil and grilling meat and vegetables.

“We have to find where ever that is coming from,” Felicity insisted.  
“I’m trying to but the only thing I can see that might be it is this doorway over here,” Oliver said motioning to a doorway that lead to a lattice sheltered stairway. The wisteria grew thick and heavy all the way up to another doorway on the second floor of the old stone building. He seemed a bit apprehensive as the daylight slowly ebbed away and they were left alone in the quiet street.

“We’ve been in scarier places, Oliver,” she chuckled, “Let’s go up. My feet are killing me and I need a rest.”  
“Ok, but let me go first.”  
“How gallant of you.”  
“Shuuuut it.”

Felicity’s laugh echoed up and down the narrow street as they climbed the steep set of worn stone stairs. When they got to the top, they saw they had found probably the smallest restaurant in Positano. There was enough space for four tables of two with additional seating at the bar for four. Every seat was taken but the server behind the bar motioned for them to stay put.

In rapid fire Italian, the server called back into the small kitchen. In response the hostess, a lovely older woman who spoke only a very small amount of English, came out and greeted them like they were long lost family members. She practically pushed Oliver towards an open door at the rear of the impossibly small dining room while gently taking Felicity by the hand and pulling her towards it.

They walked out under a wooden archway covered in roses and onto a rooftop patio that held exactly one table for two. Felicity looked at Oliver and smiled. She secretly wondered if he had planned this but the randomness of their walk and the general surprise they both expressed at having found it spoke otherwise.

The front of the patio faced the ocean and the rest of the village that sloped down towards it. Looking behind her, Felicity could see up the hillside and all the buildings, homes and hotels blinking into life as the sun’s light faded and the night began to take up residence all around them. They were somewhat sheltered from the breeze that poured down the surrounding mountainside by lattices covered in roses and wisteria whose delicate perfume swirled around them. One string at a time, tiny white lights hidden in the foliage illuminated the patio. The whole effect was like walking into a fairy tale or dream.

“Oliver,” she said quietly, “this place is amazing.”  
“I know. How lucky were we to find it?”

The hostess came out and told them what was on the menu, which consisted on one entry and two appetizers. They ordered the homemade gnocchi and bolognese and a grilled vegetable antipasto plate. The wine they wisely left to the establishment as they had no real idea what to order.

“Oliver,” she began after the woman left them alone, “can I ask you something?”  
“You can ask me anything.”  
“Do you ever think about when we should make our way back to the States?”

Oliver sat silently for a moment and looked wistfully out across to the Gulf of Napoli. Felicity watched him. He was lost in thought and looking out over the water. She was about to reach for his hand when he started to speak.

“I have. I’ve thought a lot about it. About where to live. How to live. Should I suggest another town like Ivy Town or Opal City. Should we go back to Starling. I’m at a crossroads, Felicity. I don’t know. What I do know is that I love every moment that we are together, just the two of us, as we slowly uncover each other and get to know the rest of who we are.”

“You mean like my rambling stories about my childhood in Vegas?” she teased gently.  
“Yes, especially those. I love...just to listen to you speak.”

Felicity reached across the table and took his hand in hers. Oliver was a hopeless romantic at times and it never failed to cause her stomach to flutter and her heart to race. Tonight was already gearing up to be special but he just kept making things better, richer, more heartfelt and real.

Just then, their dinner arrived. From the first bite, they knew everything was homemade. The sauce was rich and so loaded with fresh ingredients, they could taste the earth in every bite. The wine went down smooth and soon they were gazing at each other like lovestruck teenagers.

After their dinner plates had been cleared away, the hostess brought them out a glass of limoncello, a locally made lemon liqueur, and teased them in Italian. Felicity could make out the words ‘lovers’ and ‘dance’ but that was it. When her husband brought out an old radio and turned it on to a station that played only classical music, she finally understood what was happening.

Standing, a little unsteadily on her feet, Felicity extended her hand to Oliver and said, "May I have this dance?”

Laughing, Oliver accepted her invitation and rose to his feet. Placing a hand on her lower back, he gently pulled her to him and together they slowly began to sway to the music.

“I didn’t think you would accept my dance invitation,” Felicity murmured into his chest.  
“No way would I turn down the chance to dance with you.”  
“This is nice. This music is lovely.”  
“The company is even better.”  
“Awww shucks.”  
“I know we eventually have to return home but...I want to stay away for as long as we can.”  
“I know, love.”  
“Felicity, I’m sorry for...for everything.”

Pulling away from him, she looked up into his eyes. A genuine sadness lived deep within him. It was buried so deep but there were nights when it surfaced and clung to everything they were trying to build. The well of sorrow was so deep, Felicity was genuinely afraid that he would never find the bottom of it.

“Oliver,” she said quietly, taking his face in her hands so that he looked at her, “you have apologized to me so many times since we left Starling. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love you and know that in your heart of hearts you meant every single word in every single apology.”

Oliver shifted on his feet and tried to look away but Felicity was resolute. She knew his avoidance techniques and instead used her thumbs to trace the shape of his lips, knowing he would focus on her.

“I am here with you,” she whispered quietly, “only you.”

In answer, Oliver dipped his head down and gently, sweetly kissed her. Conscious of where they were, he broke away from her lips and wrapped her in an embrace. Felicity could feel his heart pounding through his shirt, it reverberated through her, pulling her heart into the same rhythm. All the words locked deep inside his heart, the ones he was still too afraid to say, were there in every beat.

“Let’s go home,” he said in a voice thick with emotion.  
“Can we call a cab?”  
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it. Felicity,” he murmured into the top of her head, “I am so glad I walked into your cubicle.”  
“I am, too.”

Felicity wandered over to the ledge of the patio that faced the ocean. The moon had yet to round the mountains behind her, so the water was inky black and the stars glittered and reflected off its surface. Taking a deep breath, she filled her lungs with the salt water air and the perfume of the roses and wisteria. Maybe they were living in a bit of a bubble at the moment, but if anyone deserved some peace of mind and heart, it was Oliver.

“Hey,” he said quietly as he came up to her from behind, wrapping her in his arms and nuzzling her with his scruff, “the owner is going to give us a ride home.”  
“What? Why?” she laughed, “Is he going to be our chaperone? To make sure we don’t do anything scandalous out in the alley?”  
“No,” he chuckled, “He owns a taxi.”  
“Maybe it’s the wine, but that is hysterically funny,” she laughed helplessly in his arms.  
“Come on, Smoak,” he laughed, “Our chariot awaits.”

Crammed together in the back of an ancient Fiat, Oliver and Felicity held hands and quietly laughed along with the restaurant owner as told them jokes in broken Italian and made them promise to come back for a special meal before they left for home. They readily agreed and waved goodbye to him from the doorway of the villa. As the tail lights disappeared up the driveway, Felicity took Oliver by the hand and lead him inside. The night was still young and there was a bathtub that needed christening.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This took me to a really emotional place. It was intended to be a gentle place of movement for Felicity and Oliver but pushed its way into some really deep places for Oliver.
> 
> There is a call back to Ghost of Jupiter and Ghost of Jupiter: Bali.  
> There is humour and some serious sexy times. 
> 
> I regret nothing even though it made me cry when I read it lol

**Chapter Three**

  
_Finding his way through_  
 _The heavy, swirling air_  
 _Finding the space to breathe._

I

 

Oliver found himself out on the terrace while Felicity was doing whatever it is she was doing in the second bathroom. He chuckled and shook his head, now he knew why she teased him relentlessly in Bali. Who knew that bathtubs would be such a shared obsession between the two of them?

“Hey, Felicity!” he called.  
“Yeah?” she called back.  
“Do you want me to make any coffee?”  
“Sure! The kind that we picked up in Pompeii. That stuff is glorious.”

Five minutes later, carafe and mugs in hand, Oliver wandered into the bathroom in search of Felicity. What he found was an oasis within their already perfect paradise. She had taken the candelabra from the dining room table and votives from the terrace and placed them all around the tub.

The air was humid and thick with steam. Felicity came in after him, wearing her short silk robe, and asked, “Did you remember the cream?”  
“I left it in the kitchen.”  
“I’ll go get it and maybe those strawberries. You get undressed and in the tub.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”

Oliver was a master of getting undressed quickly. By the time Felicity got back, he was in the tub watching the stars through the window. The sea was so calm out beyond the bay and the sky was ablaze with stars. It was like the combination of the desert and Bali and here he was in a tub drinking coffee.

“Hey,” she said softly from behind him.  
“Hey.”  
“Help me in?”  
“Absolutely,” he said as he turned around to face her.

He momentarily forgot how to breathe when he saw her. She had let the robe fall to her feet and stood there, hand outstretched, waiting for his assistance. Oliver had seen beautiful women in the past, he had been honest with her about his sexual and romantic history, but nothing from his freewheeling days prepared him for her. She was a Goddess come to life. With all the lights out in the rest of the villa, the only thing to illuminate her were the flickering candles scattered around the bathroom.

“Felicity…,” he stammered.  
“Yes? Are you not wanting to help me in?” she teased.  
“What? Right! Here,” he stammered out as he took her hand and helped her down the stone steps into the hot bath.  
“Wow! This is gorgeous and hot,” she exclaimed.  
“So are you.”

Felicity turned around and stroked his cheek before reaching for her mug of coffee and a strawberry. Oliver just smiled and shook his head. Felicity, strawberries and coffee were best friends, according to her, and he knew better than to get in between them. She moved over to the other side of the tub and stood staring out the window.

The water lapped up around her hips as the newly risen moon’s light bathed her in its silver light. The steam rose from the bath water and swirled around her like gossamer wings. There was nothing in this world that could keep him from loving her now and he had to shake his head at himself for being such a fool and repeatedly pushing her away. He almost lost her to Ray Palmer, to Ra’s Al Ghul, to his own terminal foolishness and self pity.

Putting his mug down, he reached across the distance between them and traced the outline of her bullet wound scar. He felt a particular kind of sadness that the violence of his world had left a permanent mark on her body. He felt her shiver under his touch as he let his hand trail down her back. There were some nights where just the sight of her prompted a wildness in him, a wildness he felt in the desert the night before they encountered the universe in each other. He felt that growl, that wildness springing to life the closer he got to her.

“Wash my back? I think there is still sunscreen all over it. You have a heavy hand, mister,” she said softly.  
“You aren’t exactly what I would call sun friendly,” he said as he grabbed a loofah and her favourite body wash, “and how thoughtful of you to leave all your bath stuff here for me to use.”  
“Stop,” she laughed, “a bath is a bath! No way was I not going to have you wash my back.”

Before starting, Oliver leaned forward and gently kissed her scar.

“Oliver,” she said in a hushed voice, “that isn’t washing.”  
“You are a brat.”  
“A brat who needs her back washed!”

Chuckling, Oliver did as asked. He loved her back. She was stronger than he realized, he thought as he gently lathered the surprising muscular slope of her neck. She worked out but not to the same intensity as he did, or Thea or Diggle. She must have been doing more while he was away in Nanda Parbat and it showed. He loved the way her legs felt when she had them wrapped around his waist. The power they now held was amazing. They anchored him, kept him grounded and present.

He handed her the loofah and said, “Your turn.”  
“But you’ll smell like me.”  
“Felicity, there is nothing I like more in the world then smelling like you,” he whispered in her ear.  
“Flirt,” she chuckled.

Taking the loofah from him, she circled around behind him and started to gently wash him clean. He felt her linger on the most recent brand. His heart grew heavy at the memory of how it came to be until he felt her lips touch it and something inside him broke. He felt it with his entire body and it ripped a vital part of him to shreds.

He gripped the edge of the tub to try and keep himself in control but the grief of the past year bubble up and flow out of him. He closed his eyes and let himself get sucked under the waves. His shoulders must have started to shake because the next thing he knew Felicity was turning him around and wiping the tears from his face and asking him what was wrong and how could she help.

But he was helpless, lost under a mountain of pain and guilt, and he felt like he was drowning. Felicity was throwing him a lifeline, she was giving him the opportunity to start a new life here with her, under an ancient sky. So he hung on, burying his face in her neck, he clung to her tiny frame and let the weight of her love keep him from sinking into the bottomless well of his own creation.

Silently, he cried into her shoulder. His whole body shook as he began to let go of a decade’s worth of grief, pain, sorrow, loss and helplessness. He felt her bathe his face with the cooling bath water, then her hand was in his, pulling him from the tub. He felt her wrap him in a giant towel, all the while speaking quietly to him, reassuring him of her forgiveness, that she loved him, that he was finally free to be the man he wanted to be.

Oliver smelled the acrid scent of smoke from the candles as she blew them out one by one. He caught a whiff of the bath oils and body wash she had him use as she came up beside him and pulled him, guided him, through the villa to their bedroom. He was a blind, unable to see past the tears that rained down his face.

“Come on, Oliver,” she whispered in a voice broken but strong, “come, get into bed with me.”

He crawled in beside her and felt her wrap her arms around him, holding him close, running her hands over his head, his shoulders and down his back. Soothing him with soft words, with her gentle touch, and eventually her tears. He felt them splash onto his face and mix with his own.

“Felicity,” he whispered, “please don’t cry.”  
“How can I not?”  
“I never meant -”  
“Stop, Oliver,” she said firmly, “after all we have been through together and what you have had to face alone…after Ra’s and everything at Nanda Parbat...”

Oliver wiped his face and took a series of deep, ragged breaths. He felt the sadness in her words, the layers and layers of meaning but not an ounce of regret. After all they had just survived two short months ago, she loved him and the life he hoped they could share.

“I don’t suppose you have any Kleenex on your side of the bed?” he asked.  
“As a matter of fact…,” she said as she reached off to her left, “I came prepared.”  
“You thought of everything,” he smiled in the darkness.  
“Yup. Even water and extra pillows,” she said quietly as she gently kissed his temple.  
“Pillows?”  
“We have a lot to talk about, Oliver,” she said softly, “You can’t think I am not going to want to understand what happened in there. Although I brought out extra pillows for another reason.”  
“A pillow fort? A pillow fight!?!”  
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she laughed.  
“I would...one day soon.”  
“Ok, Mister, but before that we need to have a chat.”  
“I know.”  
“Ok then,” she said as she shifted into sitting position, “come and sit.”

Oliver hoisted himself up and had a look around the darkened room. The moonlight was streaming in from the windows that faced the ocean and he could smell the Amalfi floral scent mixing with Felicity’s body wash. He turned to look at her then and saw a layer of grief covering her face. She was bravely attempting to cover it but something had touched that part of her that would always be connected to the pain he had brought into her life.

“Tell me what happened, Oliver. Now is not the time to retreat from me,” she implored quietly.  
“It was when you kissed the arrowhead brand on my back,” he started quietly, reaching for her hand. He stroked the inside of her palm and stopped to think about how these hands, her hands, had saved him over and over.

“All...all the decisions I made, all the wrong steps, the physical pain...all of it has just been sitting under my skin waiting to, I don’t know, explode out of me. And then...you kissed the one thing that I would give my life to have never happened...”

Felicity sat quietly, expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“It...I felt your forgiveness for the first time.”  
“What do you mean?” she asked as she slipped closer to him.  
“I felt it, like a living thing, and I didn’t feel worthy of it.”  
“Oliver,” she said softly, “Why would you feel that?”  
“Because underneath it all, I still don’t feel like I am worthy of you.”

Felicity fell back against the pillows, the duvet slipping down her shoulders to almost reveal her breasts. Oliver’s breath caught in his throat. The moonlight worshipped her like he did. It bathed her, illuminated her, painted her in its ancient glow. Instinctively, he reached over to brush her hair off of her shoulders so that he could see the gentle slope of her neck and swell of her breasts. She was lovely in all light but at the moment she was exquisite.

“You make me want to be better than I am, Felicity, you inspire me to be the best version of me I can be.”  
“You don’t need me to be the best version of you, Oliver,” she said, quietly “You just need faith in yourself.”

Oliver laid down next to her and stared up at the ceiling. She was right but the last eight years had been too full of death and darkness. He was struggling to keep his head above the waves that continued to threaten to wash over him. He turned onto his side to face her and found her watching him with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Oliver, can I tell you something?”  
“Of course.”  
“I put some of the water from Dewa’s temple in our bath.”  
“What?” he asked genuinely mystified.  
“The old women at the temple told me that it would be a soothing agent but to only use a little bit because it is so powerful. I thought, after our long walk that it would feel good and relax us but I think I may have caused all of that to happen. I’m sorry. I ruined our bath,” she said regretfully as she reached and gently stroked his face.  
“You brought some with you? Is that legal?”  
“Oliver, I just told you I could be the reason your body let go of all that sadness and you ask me if I broke the law?”  
“Well, I mean, we’ll get to that other stuff but it can’t be legal to transport water like that.”

Sitting up, letting the covers fall to her waist, Felicity looked down at him in mock annoyance. Oliver reached out to stroke her face but she caught his hand before it reached her, gently kissed his palm and it was like a jolt of electricity running under his skin.  
“I think I need to apologize for that,” she said softly.  
“Never but I accept,” he said with a gentle smile.  
“I just feel responsible…”  
“Nope. This was me doing something I didn’t know I needed to do.”  
“But...what if it was the water? Bali was just getting started when we left.”  
“Stranger things have happened to us,” he chuckled and then yawned. He was suddenly exhausted and felt his eyes slipping closed.  
“I think we should get some sleep. Maybe talk about it tomorrow?”  
“Yeah, but I still think you must have broken about a dozen international laws by bringing temple water from Bali to Italy.”  
“Oliver, do you ever want to have a bath or shower with me ever again?”  
“We should get some sleep.”  
“Come here,” she chuckled, “you can be the little spoon tonight.”

Oliver turned over and sank down into the bed. He felt the soft weight of Felicity’s arm as it wound over his waist and then the gentle pressure of her hand as it came to rest over his heart. The feel of her breath, as she slowly eased into sleep, lulled him into that grey space between dream and consciousness where he always felt like he was falling through an empty space. Tonight, in a room glowing with silverlight, he didn’t fall, he soared.

 

II

Oliver awoke with a start a few hours later. Something in the dream he had been embroiled in had jolted him awake. He couldn’t put his finger on just what that was but he felt the echo of a howl as it rolled over him and out into the night air.

Felicity had drifted across the bed as they slept and she was now curled up on the far side of the bed, well away from him. He contemplated reaching for her but felt unsettled, anxious and didn’t want her to be affected by his restlessness. Instead, he carefully got out bed and wandered out onto the small balcony attached to their bedroom.

The fresh air was what he needed. He needed to smell the salt air, the gentle wafting perfume of the roses and see the moon as it traveled high in the sky. He was reminded of their first night together in Nanda Parbat and the way the moon had stood both witness and guard. He turned back and watched Felicity as she slept and thought of all the ways she had brought joy into his life.

As though she knew he was thinking about her, he heard her mutter in her sleep and watched as she reached for him in the space he had left just a few short minutes before. Her hand came to rest on his pillow and continued to search for him across the cooling sheets. He smiled at her persistence and quietly made his way back to bed just as she started to wake up.

“Oliver?” she mumbled sleepily.  
“Hey,” he answered, “I’m here.”  
“Wheredidyago?”  
“I just needed some fresh air. The ocean is so calm here.”  
“Mmmmmm it is. It smells so good, too.”  
“Go back to sleep,” he said softly as he kissed her forehead.

Felicity moved over and nestled into his side after he climbed back into bed. He moved his arm and welcomed her onto his side of the enormous bed. He closed his eyes and listened to the gentle sound of the waves 200 feet below. Gradually he became aware of her fingers trailing a pattern of circles and shapes across his abdomen. His body was beginning to respond despite how tired he was and the very late hour on the clock.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Smoak,” he mumbled.  
“I could say the same thing to you.”  
“If you know what is good for me, you’ll move your hand lower.”  
“I think I should go to sleep.”

With a growl, Oliver pulled her over top of him and rubbed his almost too long beard scruff over her neck. He knew she both loved and hated that and wanted her to be as wide awake as he was now.

“If I have beard burn on my neck tomorrow, you will have to shave,” she admonished without any real struggle.  
“I could condition it.”  
“Your scruff?”she asked as she straddled his hips and sat up to escape his chin.  
“I’m so glad we sleep naked.”  
“Me, too. What woke you up?”  
“A dream or the echo of one.”  
“The echo of a dream...that sounds almost romantic,” she teased.  
“Well, Coyote was in it, so…,”

She was laughing quietly at his tease as he pulled her down into tender kiss. He felt her breathing change and gently moved his hands across her body and over her breasts. He felt her nipples harden under his touch and her hips started to move against him. She loved the tension created between his kiss and the pull of his fingers on her nipples. Her hands were in his hair trying desperately to find purchase.

She wanted him to grow it just a little bit longer before cutting it again, citing the perfect ‘sex length’ was about an inch and a half long. She mentioned it when they were in Bali one night after they had made love for the fourth or fifth time. She had been exhausted and was slowly talking herself to sleep when she dropped that bomb on him.

She never failed to make him laugh even when his vision was clouded with lust and longing and that night had been no different. Right now all he felt was her hand stroking across his shoulders and down his arms. Her touch was so familiar now but it still sent shockwaves through his body and straight to his soul.

“MmmmmOliver,” she murmured as his thumbs circled her nipples in slow, languid circles, “What time is it?”  
“Does it matter?” she asked breathlessly.  
“Never.”

She bent to kiss his neck and slowly explored his chest and torso with her hands, mouth, teeth and tongue. The sensations she was leaving in her wake buffeted him like he was in the water, riding the waves with her towards their shared shore.

“This makes up for illegal water in the bath,” he whispered.  
“We’ll talk about the water later,” she murmured against his neck.

Oliver wanted to flip her over onto her back, he knew he could without expending more than an ounce of energy, but he relaxed under her touch. He closed his eyes as her lips touched the knife scar on his chest. This was still all so new for them that he was still adjusting to the tenderness and desire that rested like a physical weight in her touch.

He opened his eyes, reached for her and drew her up into a long, passionately messy kiss. She was moving her hips against him and he could feel the wet heat of her pressed against him while his cock laid heavy and hard against his belly. Her tongue explored his mouth, the velvety warm smoothness of it threatened to override his desire to go slow and enjoy these moments where she was leading him, showing him what her desire looked like.

They both broke free from the kiss to catch their breath and opened their eyes. He loved the colour of her eyes. They were a brilliant sapphire blue but held flecks of gold close to the pupil. In certain lights, those flecks would burst into life like the corona of light around the circumference of the moon during an eclipse of the sun.

In other light, low light like candlelight, those flecks spread out and moved. They shimmered and sparked with life and he could swear he was watching the formations of galaxies swirling into being. Tonight was one of those nights. The moon’s soft light cascaded through the large leaded glass windows that looked out over the village far to the east and set her eyes into pulsing life.

“You have the most amazing eyes,” he said in a voice husky with desire.  
“You’ve mentioned,” she smiled.  
“I can’t help but notice and tell you now that I can.”

Trailing a finger around his face and jawline, Felicity took her time in replying. Her hips continued their sinuous movement up and down his now throbbing erection. He gripped her hips but did not interfere with her rhythm, not just yet anyways. With her face still so close to his, he was able to draw her back into a kiss that grew deeper, more urgent with each passing second. She moaned into it, into him, and greedily sucked on his tongue to the same rhythm that her hips were moving against him.

He failed to feel her reach between them and slowly guide him into her body. He became aware gradually, as the tension and friction around him grew steadily more and more intense. Oliver loved the way her body wrapped around him, the hot, wet velvet heat of her had become his Mecca, his oasis, his paradise. He tried to wrap his arms around Felicity but she used his chest as leverage and pushed herself so that she could look down at him.

“You look like a Goddess,” he said as his breath grew shorter.  
“Which one?” she teased.  
“Venus.”  
“Good answer,” she breathed.

Her eyes closed and her head fell back as she slowly gave into her own rhythm. Oliver loved watching her when she let her inhibitions slip away and give into the ecstasy of their joined bodies. He let his hands roam over her body. She was so tiny in comparison to his large hands, he was able to cover her chest and torso with ease. He lightly brushed her erect nipples with his fingertips and elicited a low moan, filled with passion and ecstasy, from her.

Her skin was silky soft from their bath and she smelled like coconut and gardenia oil. He knew almost every inch of her. He knew how there was a spot just under her right ear that when he gently kissed it, caused her to growl low in her throat. He knew he could run his hands down her back and she would instinctively press tighter against him. So many small, tender spots on her body that he had discovered in the last two months with so many more to discover.

Felicity reached for his hands and laced their fingers together as she began to increase the movement of her hips. She was grinding down hard against him, keeping him buried deep inside her and he was close to an ecstasy fueled frenzy. He could feel the starting of her clenching down around him and knew she was so close to her release but he wasn’t ready yet. Not yet.

“Wait...Felicity,” he panted, “Slow down...just...oh God, please...slow down.”  
“Oh God, Oliver…,” she moaned, “I am so close…”  
“I know….but wait.”

In answer, she slowed the movement of her hips and took a series of deep breaths.  
“Oliver, I don’t know how long I can wait,” she said softly.  
“Come here,” he smiled.

Looking down at him, she looked like she had a light shining from inside and all he wanted to taste her, the fire that burned so bright within her, so he pulled down,back into his orbit. Her lips tasted like the solar winds they waded into in the desert and her tongue sparked against his with the power of a thunderstorm.

She picked up her rhythm again, moving against him with purpose, her resolve to take it slow vanished the moment his lips met hers. He held her tight to his body so he could feel her every breath. He felt her hook her feet overtop of his thighs and the pressure, that exquisite tension, touched off something animalistic inside him and he moaned into her kiss.

She broke free from his kiss and hovered her face above his, sharing his breath. He opened his eyes so he could watch her as she soared in her ecstasy. His lips sought hers again while she pulsed around him, coaxing him to a point past hardness, to a point past sanity. He gripped her hips but this time encouraged and met her with deep thrusts of his own.

“Just like that, Oliver...oh God, I love you...:”  
“I love you, Felicity...for so long…,” he moaned into her neck.

She started to gently flex towards him as the storm in her body flared and clenched down around his throbbing cock. Then she slowed to a stop as she came like a hurricane around him, crying out his name with her face buried in his neck. While she was still lost in her orgasm, Oliver thought about flipping them over but felt the electric uncoiling begin low down in his pelvis and knew he was entering that delicate place where any sensation could send him to his release.

He wanted to slow down again and coax her to another orgasm but Felicity growled into his neck and that triggered something raw inside of him. Her hard, heavy breathing, the thin sheen of sweat between their bodies acted like an elixir, not a balm, and he drove himself into her as deep as he could.

Felicity was whispering in his ear as he met her thrust for frenzied thrust. He had no idea what she was saying but the feel of her breath against his neck and the soft, gentle sound of her voice in his ears made his mind go blank so that he blindly followed where she was leading him.

She straightened her legs just enough to squeeze around him in a uniform tightness that grew more intense as he felt himself beginning to loosen, his cock started to throb and he felt the spreading warmth in his lower body before all he felt was an ecstasy so profound he failed to feel her join him.

“God, Felicity….” he moaned, “I love you…”  
“Oliver,” she panted, “keep moving your hips...OH...God, yes, just like that…”

He smoothed her hair out of her face and watched her as she came again in a long, rolling orgasm. She shuddered and curled towards him just as he lost his control with a series of hard, uneven thrusts. He pulled her face towards his and drew her into a deep, soul filled kiss so that he came with the taste of her on his tongue.

“Oh my God, Oliver,” she sighed as she rolled off of him, “that was...I mean...sometimes I feel like I can’t get close enough to you.”  
“Let me regain my ability to think before you explain that,” he mumbled with his eyes closed.  
“I love you, Oliver Queen,” she whispered as she traced the shape of his jaw with one fingertip, “I have for so long.”

Oliver reached up and caught her hand before she could withdraw it and gently kissed the inside of her wrist. She was damp from sweat but he could still smell the scent of her body wash. He would make the bath up to her within the next couple of days. There was a boat trip he wanted to take her on that would lead them to a private cabin next to a grotto he was going to surprise her with at the end of the week.

Whatever happiness they could find here, he would happily provide.

“Come on, love,” she smiled as she tried to pull him up, “we’re sweaty and sticky.”  
“Shower?”  
“Yeah, then bed.”  
“I don’t think my legs are functioning yet.”  
“You say that all the time,” she laughed.  
“This time it is true!”  
“Next time, I’ll be gentler,” she murmured as she leaned over and kissed his neck, just below the his ear.  
“Please don’t threaten me.”  
“Come on, I am not sleeping next to you like this. You’ll start to stink during the night,” she cajoled.  
“Then you won’t want to get close to me?” he teased gently.  
“Stop,” she said with a poke at his side before reclining across his chest, “Don’t you ever feel like that? That you can’t get…close enough to me during those more intensely intimate moments?”  
“Like I want to feel what you are feeling? Like we should be one person instead of two?”  
“Yeah, something like that.”  
“Nah, I can usually hardly wait for you to finish so I can get some sleep.”

Oliver burst out laughing as he watched her jaw drop and her eyes widened in mock indignation. Moving faster than her ability to speak, he scooped her up and made his way to the washroom and the shower.

A few minutes later, washed and dried, they climbed back into bed. The night still had some distance to go before the dawn ushered in a new day. Oliver opened his arms and welcomed Felicity into them, pulling her in close enough that he could feel her heartbeat. She liked to listen to his but he only felt true comfort when he could feel hers.

“Felicity?” he murmured sleepily.  
“Hmmm?”  
“I know exactly what you mean by feeling like you can’t seem to get close enough to me.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Yeah.”

He felt her take a deep breath, it was like her whole body was smiling into his, and before she could let the breath go he slipped off to sleep.

 

III

_He felt a wind against his face and looked around to see which window was open but he was back amongst the rocks and endless sky. Now the sun was beginning its daily journey and illuminated the strange world around him. He could finally make out the rocky buttes and the long, slow rolling hills that lead out to the Plains._

_Off in the distance, where the sun’s light was just beginning to reach, he spied a small kick up of dust. It was too small for it to be a person, but larger than a tumbleweed. Then he heard the familiar bark and cry of Coyote but further off, somewhere nearer the rising sun, was the sound of hooves pummelling the earth. It sounded like one large beast moving at an incredible speed over the hard packed ground. He wasn’t sure yet what the herd was, but he knew the animals must be large to make the earth tremble beneath his feet._

_“Sit down,” came a paper thin voice from behind him, “You’ve been standing there for a long time now.”_   
_“I thought I just arrived,” Oliver said as he turned around. He had been expecting to see Coyote sitting on a rock and laughing at him. What he actually saw was an old, old Native American man. He was peering out at him through a circle that had worn through a rocky wall. It was part of the butte rising high above them both._   
_“Well, you did,” the old man chuckled, “But you’ve been standing there a real long time. Come sit down with me on the porch. I think I have a chair that can hold ya.”_

_With that, the old man turned and shuffled away, sending small clouds of dust up from under his feet as he went. Oliver stood and watched him head towards a rundown, ramshackle cabin. The paint on it had long since faded and weathered away under what must be the unrelenting sun. He could make out flecks of white and spots of red and black but otherwise the cabin was a uniform grey. The roof was missing shingles but otherwise looked intact._

_Before he could climb through the hole in the rocks, a small herd of five deer jumped through ahead of him and into the enclosure that the cabin was in. Curious, Oliver followed them in and found that they had located a small pasture ringed with dogwood and cottonwood trees. They had spread out onto their own patch of grass and were calmly eating in the shade._

_“Well, come on, young buck,” the old man called from his rocking chair on the covered porch, “I have dreams to get to.”_   
_“I don’t know where this is,” Oliver said as he walked up the creaking porch steps, “I think I was here last night.”_   
_“You were.”_   
_“Ok...so where are we?”_   
_“We? I know where I am,” the old man chuckled._   
_“So where am I?”_   
_“Look around. Where do you think you are?”_

_Oliver sat down in the chair beside the old man and looked around. He saw the green covered Plains, rolling hills, low ground hugging bushes and he wasn’t sure but he thought he saw buffalo grazing at the foot of a butte that rose alone to the north of them. The early morning sun was slowly revealing the crags and vertical score marks that began near the base and rose to the top._

_It wasn’t the largest butte he had ever seen, the smallest mountains on Lian Yu would have covered it with their shadows, but something about was awe inspiring. He felt like he was in the presence of something far bigger than the world beneath his feet._

_“I’m in South Dakota, aren’t I?” he asked quietly._   
_“Not as dumb as you look, young buck,” the old man chuckled._

_Oliver barked out a laugh and sat back. The day was just beginning but it was cool, almost chilly, and sky seemed to go on forever. He could see the shine of the rainbow far to the south and the flash of what must be lightning. As far as dreams went, so far this was a good one. If Coyote came around, Felicity would never forgive him._

_“You waiting on that mangy Coyote?” the old man asked, “She comes and goes like the wind.”_   
_“I was wondering what I was doing here,” Oliver said as he watched the deer settle into the meadow. They had sought the shade of the cottonwood trees and were dozing in the early dawn’s light. It was peaceful here, quiet and almost otherworldly._

_“You see that butte?” the old man asked._   
_“Yeah, it is hard to miss.”_   
_The old man chuckled and looked him over. Oliver, feeling a bit like he was under a microscope, turned in his chair to study the old man._

_He was older than Oliver first thought. His hair, long and pure white, was in braids that hung down to his waist. He was wearing jeans so worn they were almost white and his old plaid flannel shirt, once most likely vibrant red and blue, was now subtle shades of maroon as the colours had blended together._

_The old man had deep grooves in his skin, like his wrinkles had folded in on themselves, and he was the colour of a man who had spent his life under the hot summer sun and the windswept, snowy Plains. Possibly on horseback or on foot. He was old enough to have lived in a tipi and under the stars at night._

_“I’m old, young buck,” he said dryly, “and I remember the days of riding on horseback with my family. Up to the base of that there butte and then us young ones would climb. All the way up. It would take better part of a day but we’d get there.”_   
_“Why’d you climb?” he asked._

_Just then the wind kicked up, causing dust devils to whirl and swirl in the yard in front of the cabin. There was a cool bite to the wind and the scent of rain. The deer, as though sensing something coming, took off into the woods and vanished into the underbrush. The old man slowly got us and shuffled to the screen door at the front of the cabin._

_“Well, come on now, young buck,” the old man said, “there’s a storm coming and I have coffee on the stove.”_   
_“Are you going to tell me about why you climbed that butte?”_   
_“I might. I might tell you another story. Might be about Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan.”_   
_“Who?” Oliver asked, genuinely mystified._   
_“You’ll see,” the old man chuckled, “You’ll see.”_

_Oliver smiled and shook his head but got up and followed the old man across the threshold and into the small cabin. He glanced around and saw it had two rooms: a bedroom, small bathroom, and a living room and kitchen sharing the same room. There was an old wood stove in the corner of the kitchen and it was putting out a steady heat as it kept the coffee hot and ready on top._

_“Sit down and I’ll pour us some coffee and tell you a story.”_   
_“You haven’t told me your name yet. I think you know who I am,” Oliver said._   
_“You’re right,” the old man said as he turned to get them coffee, “I haven’t told you, have I?”_

_Oliver waited for a heart beat and smiled. The old man wasn’t going to give up his name easily. So he crossed the small room to the threadbare couch at the other end of it and sat down. Puffs of dust rose up and floated, glittering in the sunlight that streamed in through leaded glass windows. From his position he could see into the small bedroom and the tiny bathroom and the back door now propped open to catch the breeze._

_The old man shuffled over to him, extending a tin mug of steaming coffee. Oliver took a whiff and looked up at him. “This isn’t coffee, is it?”_

_The old man laughed, “No, that there is not coffee. Now sit back, enjoy your chicory and dandelion, it’ll help you get ready for the story.”_   
_“How long will it take?”_   
_“As long as it needs to.”_   
_“Will you explain what Walkinyan Can Ta Winyan or whatever it was that you said earlier is?” he asked as he took a sip of the earthy, rich brew._   
_“Well now,” the old man said with a yawn, “that’s who the story is all about. Now drink up. We have some place to go before the sun gets too high.”_

_Oliver turned to look at the old man and saw that he fallen asleep. Unsure of what exactly to do, he leaned back into the couch and enjoyed the warm of the sun on his face. He heard what sounded like scrabbling of nails on wood and saw Coyote’s nose poke through the open door. It twitched a couple of times and then with a small laughing yip, away she went._

_One day she would come in, Oliver thought, it was time for them to get better acquainted._

_After finishing his chicory coffee, Oliver laid his head back and closed his eyes. The sun’s warmth was lulling him slowly to sleep. Just as he was slipping off to sleep, the sweet scent of rain pushed in through the screen doors and clouds rolled over the sun._

_From behind closed eyes, Oliver saw the flash of lightning and heard the loud clap of thunder signalling a large storm cell overhead. He just couldn’t seem to wake up and check. The wind was slowly becoming gusts and on it floated the soft scent of coconut and gardenias which confused him since he was nowhere near the tropics._

_Underneath the rolling waves of thunder came her voice, calling out to him, trying to wake him up. Turning his head to the side, Oliver struggled against the weight of the buried dream within him and opened his eyes._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another day in Italian paradise for Oliver and Felicity. There is love, lust, humour and some bitter sweetness. The action is in Felicity's dream. Coyote comes back and the Old Man are there to guide her in her journey.
> 
> Eagle eyed readers may spot the moment where a certain pic was taken that was shared during season 3.5...
> 
> This is an easy, free feeling chapter with no rush to confront the recent past but there is something brewing...

**Chapter Four**

  
_She walks on the sand_  
 _Wading into the surf_  
 _Trailing her dreams behind her._

I

“Oliver…,” Felicity called quietly, “Oliver, come on, wake up. I made coffee…”

Felicity stood in the doorway and watched Oliver sleep. He was out, like really out, and Felicity knew that waking him up from this deep of a sleep was going to be tricky. She had no idea if he was locked in a dream-filled or dreamless sleep. Jostling him awake was not something she ever did but it was getting late and she knew he hated to sleep past 8 am, which had come and gone an hour ago.

Crossing the bedroom on silent feet, she carefully put the mug of coffee she had poured for herself on his bedside table. She knew he would wake up when the aroma reached him. While she waited, she slipped out of her robe and back into bed beside him. The morning air was chilly and he was always so warm. He burned so hot all time, like her own personal sun.

“That had better not be chicory and dandelion coffee,” he mumbled and he turned towards her and wrapped her in tight embrace.  
“Chicory and dandelion?” she asked while she got comfortably nestled into him.  
“Hmmmm...it puts me to sleep,” he mumbled.  
“Oliver, I have no idea what you are talking about,” she chuckled into his chest. He still smelled so good from their shower the night before. She took a deep breath and smiled.  
“I guess you don’t,” he chuckled quietly as he kissed the top of her head, “I must have been dreaming.”  
“Sounds like it was an interesting one.”  
“You weren’t in it, so it wasn’t all that great.”  
“Were you ok?” she asked, concerned that maybe he was hiding behind the wall he used to protect himself from sharing too much information.  
“Yeah, I think I was. I think Coyote was sniffing around the edges.”  
“I hate you.”

Oliver laughed and rolled over on top of her.

“Oliver! You are too heavy! I can’t breathe!” she shouted into his chest.  
“Do you hate me?”  
“YES!”  
“Felicity…”  
“Let me up!”

Oliver laughed at her even harder but he rolled off of her and let her breathe. She wasn’t a fan of being crushed to death in the morning but she loved the way his body felt pressed against hers. It was a trade off she was willing to make every now and then.

“So what’s the plan for the day?” he asked softly.  
“I don’t know, maybe explore the village, go dancing, whatever we want.”  
“I don’t dance. How about we rent bicycles?”  
“Oliver, I can barely walk up the street. And what do you mean you don’t dance, we did last night!”  
“I have no memory of that.”  
“Liar.”  
“Careful, I feel a need to roll again…”  
“No! I made breakfast. Come on, grab your sweatpants or a towel or sock.”  
“Sock?” he laughed.  
“Yeah, you did say you want me to objectify your body more...” she teased.  
“True, but I don’t know if a sock will -”  
“Do not finish that sentence or I will never ogle you again.”  
“Breakfast you say?” he asked cautiously.  
“Don’t worry, it is just fruit and granola,” she chuckled.

Oliver relaxed in obvious relief.  
“Oliver, one day you will have to teach me to cook.”  
“If we can get you to boil water without burning it, it will be an amazingly good day.”  
“I am never, ever living that down,” she moaned.  
“Nope!” he laughed as he pulled her face up for a kiss.

Felicity loved kissing Oliver. No matter the time of day or night, she loved the feel of his beard when it would rasp against her skin, the softness of his lips and the velvet smoothness of his tongue when it would push into her mouth and dance around her own. The deeper the kiss became, the easier it was for her to forget any lingering doubts and just give in to the moment.

“We should probably get up,” she murmured against his lips.  
“Mmmmmhmmm.”  
“If we don’t, we won’t get out of here for a while,” she breathed as she felt his hand slip down her body and between her legs.  
“MmmmHmmmm…,” he hummed into the base of her throat as he licked her pulse point.  
“Mmmmm...Oliver?”  
“Hmmmm?”  
“We…,” she momentarily lost her voice and breath as he slowly stroked her clit, moving his fingers in a steady pattern with increasing speed and pressure and she could feel how wet she was becoming, “...need to hurry. You can roll over if you want.”

Oliver looked up at her and smiled but there was a passionate heat in his eyes that caused her to catch her breath. She loved giving him permission to take control like that. Usually the balance of power shifted between them when they made love but this morning she was willing to let him control what was about to happen.

He raised himself up and kissed her again, a deep and probing kiss while he slowly moved his hand so that he could slip first one, then two fingers inside her. His tongue moved in time with his fingers and she gripped onto his shoulders and moved her hips to match his tempo.

“Morning quickie?” he asked as he dipped his head so he could reach her breasts. She felt his lips brush over her nipples and then his tongue and saw stars explode behind her eyelids.  
“...yes,” she said in a low, breathy voice, “no time...like the present.”  
Oliver chuckled as he sucked first one nipple then the other to a hardness that caused her to hiss with pleasure.

She couldn’t reach low enough to grasp him but she could feel him growing rock hard against her thigh. God, she loved how they affected each other and hoped that it would never change. They were still so new to one another but it was like their bodies were already mapped out and in tune with each other. Like how she knew that if she dragged her nails lightly across the back of his neck, she would have to buy new clothes.

She discovered that accidentally one night in Thailand. They had come in from dinner and she was on her way to get a bottle of water from their kitchenette when she reached out to touch him on her way by. She had intended to ruffle his hair but missed and her nails had lightly scratched across the base of his neck. He was up in a flash and basically ripped her dress off on the way to the bedroom.

But when Oliver growled, she let all reason drift away. It drove her to a carnal and ancient place in her mind and all she wanted was to feel him moving inside her, to feel his mouth on hers and the taste of him on her tongue. She loved it even more when he growled against her neck. The rumble of it was almost more than she could stand.

Right now, as he moved to roll on top of her, all she wanted to feel was him inside of her so she eased her legs further apart to give him room and space. He was breathing hard and heavy, so she knew that “quickie” was the operative word.

“God, Felicity,” he mumbled against her mouth, “I don’t know how I went three years without this and you.”  
“You needed to grow as a person first.”  
“I’m glad I could meet your standards,” he growled into the base of her throat just as he guided himself into her and pushed as deep as he could causing them both to gasp.  
“Oliver?” she murmured.  
“Hmmmm?”  
“You need to focus,” she whispered as she lightly ran her nails across the back of his neck.

Growling, Oliver started to thrust into her with hard, powerful movements of his hips and he wrapped his arms around her while she wrapped her legs around his waist and met him thrust for thrust. This was not going to be a long, slow morning. She could feel the need to connect, to join their bodies and chase their own pleasure outweighing the desire to experience every small sensation. No, this was just going to be sex. Hard, pure sex.

“God, Oliver,” she gasped, “harder...oh God, yes, just like that…”  
“I’m not going to last,” he panted, “not if we keep this pace…”  
“Neither am I,” she moaned, “I don’t care...I don’t care...oh god…”

Felicity spiralled as Oliver plunger deeper inside her, stroking that hidden spot that triggered her orgasm. She felt it coming, that spreading warmth and looseness, an almost languidness that stopped her breathing for an instant before flooding her body with something approaching pure ecstasy.

She tightened around him, deep inside, but let the rest of herself go loose as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her. She heard him utter a guttural moan as his cock started to swell and throb inside her. Felicity loved that delicious tension that would gradually build within their bodies, increasing in intensity and friction until one of them broke.

This time it was Oliver. She loved the way he felt right as he came. There was a fraction of a second where she felt completely surrounded by him, protected and loved, then there he would let out a loud, low groan, bury himself as though trying to merge with her body and he would come in a series of hard, demanding thrusts, releasing a liquid heat that sometimes pushed her to yet another peak.

Like now. Only this one was so powerful, she felt it in every cell of her body. She tried to hold herself perfectly still and wait for the uncoiling of heat and energy that was erupting out of her like lava to complete its journey. Felicity closed her eyes and held onto Oliver as though he were her anchor and the only thing keeping her tethered to the earth. Her body trembled and shook as her orgasm took possession of her. It travelled under her skin like an earthquake that rumbled and pulsed of its own accord.

“Whatever your body is doing right now,” Oliver whispered in her ear, “needs to happen every time we have sex.”  
“Wh...what does it feel like?” she stammered.  
“You are pulsing and throbbing all around me. It feels...amazing.”  
“Don’t move,” she implored, “please, I don’t think I could stand it.”  
“Aren’t I crushing you?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck, seeking out the pulse point under her left ear.  
“Yes, but if you move, I think I might explode or erupt.”  
“What if I ease off of you just a little bit?” he asked as he moved his hips ever so slightly away from her.  
“Oliver, please, stop moving,” she almost begged as her body shuddered and bucked underneath him, “Oh my God….Oliver…”  
“Jesus, Felicity,” he gasped, “how can you still be coming?”  
“Welcome to the world of a woman’s multiple orgasms.”  
“I’m familiar with those but I have never felt anything like this before.”  
“Ok,” she said after a minute, “I think I’m ok now, just move slowly.”  
“Or I could do this,” Oliver said quietly as he pushed himself up and off her faster than she could blink.  
“Oh my God, I hate you!”  
“Just breathe deep,” he encouraged softly as he massaged her abdomen.  
“That’s helping…,” she said as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal.  
“Coffee?” he asked, offering her the long forgotten coffee mug.  
“Oh God, yes,” she said as she sat up.  
“Go get your own, this one’s mine.”  
“Oliver Jonas Queen…”

Oliver escaped her reach and headed into the bathroom. She heard him whistling to himself which he only did when he was happy with himself for outwitting her.

“Coming?” he called.

Grumbling to herself under her breath, Felicity got unsteadily to her feet and went in to join him in the shower. He laughed when he saw her face but gallantly relinquished the cold coffee to her and helped her wash her hair.

 

II

“So should we walk to the village or catch the bus?” Felicity asked as she studied the tourist map the restaurant owner had given them the night before. He and his wife had briefly argued, in rapid fire Italian, and then marked a few spots of interest between them and the villa.  
“Let’s walk,” Oliver said as he did up his shoes.  
“I knew you’d say that.”  
“Let’s go, Smoak!” he said with a clap of his hands.  
“Alright, alright!” she called as she grabbed her bag and sunglasses. Hand in hand, they set out on the hilly footpaths that lead into the village.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent wandering the narrow, wisteria covered streets of Positano. The purple flowers diffused the light so that they quickly lost track of time. One minute they were enjoying a latte at a table overlooking the ocean and then the next they were posing for a photo, at Oliver’s insistence, at a touristy spot that overlooked the village.

She had never pegged him to be such a romantic but he was continually wooing her, making her fall in love with him all over again each day. She didn’t need the grand romantic gestures but watching him take the time to consider what would make her happy filled her heart with so much love, she just knew that this time together was just the beginning of their life together.

They had lunch at a small cafe and then headed back the way they came. Oliver stopped in at a wine and cheese shop and picked up more provisions while Felicity slipped into a boutique and bought herself a dress. If he was going to be Mr. Romantic, the least she could do was dress nice enough to encourage it happening more than once, she thought.

“So, now that all the shops are closed for the afternoon, what should we do?” she asked as they made their way back to the villa.  
“I am going to go for a long run, I think.”  
“Your level of fitness is sickening.”  
“You should try it! You might like it,” he teased.  
“It would be a sign of the end of the world if I ever joined you,” she laughed.  
“Do you ever think about what it would have been like if we had stayed in Starling?”  
“Sometimes, I think about where we’d be if we had stayed. Or if we would be.”  
“How do you mean?”  
“Things were...so complicated. It would have been like we were living in a fog if we stayed. Here, and in Bali and in Thailand and in the desert...we could just be.”  
“Don’t forget that beach house on the coast.”  
“Ohhhhh God, that beach house…,” she sighed, “I will never, ever forget that little piece of happiness.”  
“We should go back,” he said quietly as he leaned over to kiss the top of her head.  
“We should. Maybe even back to Bali.”  
“I...don’t think our bodies could handle Bali. At least not for a while.”  
“Oliver…,” she started hesitantly.  
“What, hon?”  
“Our past won’t always be there, like a shadow cast behind us. We have our future in front of us.”  
“I love you, Felicity Smoak.”  
“I love you, too, but I mean it. We have so much to look forward to,” she said earnestly.  
“I know. Like tonight,” he said gently.  
“Well, we better get home so you can get to your run,” she teased, “Lord knows you need it.”

Oliver laughed and pulled her along behind him down the footpath that would eventually lead them home. Felicity’s thoughts turned to Star City and the life they had left behind just two short months ago. Part of her longed to know how their friends were fairing in the aftermath of the plague. Were they ok? Could she help them in any way from the other side of the world?

Oliver made it easy to forget that they had almost lost each other forever. That he had boarded a plane with no intention of stepping off of it, that he was willing to die for a city that barely respected him and had yet to demonstrate that it understood him. They needed to talk about that still, the underlying psychosis of it all, but for now she was willing to set it aside to discover who they were in the moment.

“Why so quiet?” he asked as they rounded the final corner of the footpath and headed up the path towards their villa.  
“I was thinking about the last six months or so and all the events and decisions that lead to this very moment.”  
“I’m sorry that I put you through so much… I got lost somewhere and couldn’t figure out how to get back,” he said in a quiet voice.  
“I know, Oliver. One day, we’ll dig into that, but not today,” she said softly as she wrapped one arm around him and pulled him close.  
“We’ll find the time, I promise,” he agreed and then bent to kiss the top of her head.  
“How long will you go running for?”  
“Maybe two hours, we’ll see how I feel going up and down the hills. What do you have planned?”  
“A nap.”  
“Just a nap?” he laughed.  
“Yes! All this physical activity is exhausting.”  
“We really need to have a chat about what physical activity is one day.”  
“Only if you promise to do it in that tight white shirt you wear under your hoodie and your black boxer briefs.”  
“Really, Felicity? I want to talk to you about your health and you want to stare at my body?”  
“Oliver, do you ever listen to yourself talk?”

Laughing, Oliver picked her up and carried her the last 100 metres to their villa. He only put her down when she promised to wear the turquoise bikini for their physical activity chat. She knew the conversation would come to a crashing halt after five minutes so she had absolutely no problem with agreeing to his stipulations.

Five minutes later, she wished him well as he went out the door and headed up into the mountain pathways for his run. The afternoon was all hers so she went out to the pool to relax in the warm summer sun. Soon it would slip behind the mountains and all she wanted was to feel the heat in her bones. Within a few minutes of settling into the lounger under the pergola, she was asleep.

 

III

 

_She opened her eyes to a brilliant sky. It was deep blue, cloudless and suffused with light but something was off, she couldn’t find the sun. It had to be somewhere because the light had to be coming from somewhere. She took in her surroundings, it wasn’t the desert but there were vast open spaces, rolling hills and low, ground hugging bushes. Tall buttes rose above forests of cottonwood trees and dogwood bushes._

_It was beautiful. She climbed up onto a rock in order to get a clear view of where she was and to find the sun. It was then she spotted the scored butte that rose high above the Plains. It stood tall and weathered as it reached towards the sky, casting its shadow onto the forest and hills below. She was not in Italy anymore, that she knew for sure, but she was confused as to exactly where she was ._

_“Come on down from there,” she heard a voice saying behind her, “you aren’t going to be getting done what you need to perched like a bird up there.”_

_Felicity whirled around and came face to face with a very old Native American man. He was watching her with a bemused expression on his face. His eyes twinkled and motioned with his head for her to follow him up the path behind him._

_She was curious as to where he could be leading her and just what was going on in this particular dream. In all honesty, she was expecting some Roman God or Goddess to come looking for her, especially after Pompeii, so to find her dreamself back in America was a bit of a surprise._

_Hopping down from her rocky lookout, Felicity followed the old man down the narrow path as it wound its way through rocks and a circular opening that lead to a meadow, forest and his very old cabin. She could smell the rich aroma of coffee on the air and felt welcomed into this stranger’s home. She was obviously supposed to follow him inside so, without missing a step, she entered his cabin._

_It was small but full of light and warm from a wood stove in the kitchen. She looked around and took in the well used kitchen, the doorway that lead to a bedroom and small washroom. The living room was really just an extension of the kitchen but faced the meadow and forest. The tops of the windows held tiny squares of leaded glass that cast rainbows all around the small room. Felicity spotted deer resting in the tall grass and eagles circling high above the trees._

_The colours of her dream landscape were vivid and pulsing with life._

_“You don’t fear things, do you?” he asked with a quizzical expression on his face._   
_“I do if I feel threatened,” she answered as she looked at him, “and I don’t feel threatened now. I just knew I should follow you, so I did.”_   
_“You aren’t like the young buck at all,” he mused with a small chuckle, “He questioned me every step of the way. I was glad to see him head up the butte.”_   
_“Young buck? Do you mean Oliver?” she asked incredulously._   
_“Is that what you call him now? Oliver?”_   
_“Well, yes. It is his name.”_   
_“Huh,” was all he said to that._

_Felicity studied the old man through narrow eyes. He was wearing old, faded jeans and a plaid shirt. His long, white hair was in two braids that fell almost to his waist and on his feet were the most beautiful moccasins she had ever seen. They were literally covered in tiny white seed beads with a pattern of geometric lines in cobalt blue and bright red. Hints of yellow peaked out from under his jean cuffs and a trail of rawhide that must have been laces._

_He watched her watch him and gently began to chuckle. He pointed at the couch and motioned for her to sit down then made his way over to the woodstove in the corner of his small kitchen. Felicity smiled and wandered over to the ancient couch._

_“So how did you meet Oliver?” she asked as she sat down in the corner nearest the window. Her attention kept being drawn back to the large butte and what its name might be. She wondered if Oliver had been curious about it whenever it was he as here._   
_“He showed up here a couple nights ago. Him and that mangy dog.”_   
_“He showed up with Coyote? Is that what you are telling me?”_   
_“That wild beast will follow your young buck from now until the end of time,” he chuckled as he poured them each a steaming mug of coffee._   
_“Great,” she muttered._   
_“Don’t be jealous of that flea ridden mutt, she is just hanging around to keep him safe. She knows you, she respects you. He would be lost without the both of you.”_   
_“So Coyote is really here for me?”_   
_“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think she is here for herself,” he chuckled._

_Felicity settled back into the overstuffed cushions and waited for him to cross the room with their mugs. The warmth of the room, the soft white light and quiet were lulling her into a bit of trance. Everything seemed to glow on its own and the casual dance of light and shadow pulled her focus to the edges of her consciousness._

_“Here you go, golden one, drink this,” he said as he handed her her mug, “Don’t let the bitter smell fool you. Dandelion root and chicory taste like coffee when done right.”_   
_“So what do I call you?” she asked as she took an experimental sip of the brew._   
_“Depends,” he shrugged._   
_“On what?”_   
_“What the rest of your time here brings.”_   
_“You must have a name!”_   
_“Must I?” he asked bemused._   
_“Well, someone must have called you something…”_   
_“Oh they did. Many times I was called something by a lot different people.”_

_Felicity just smiled and shook her head. He was holding tight to his name. She was going to have to work to find out what it was, if he would relinquish it at all. In the meantime, she sat back and sipped her chicory tea. It was spicy, smoky and smooth._

_“You have a gentleness to you,” he said quietly from his corner of the couch, “I can see why the young buck chose you.”_   
_“Oh yeah?” she asked sleepily._   
_“Yeah, you carry good medicine in your heart. Now rest,” he yawned, “I’m an old man, I need my rest. We have a long way to go tomorrow. Up that butte over there. That’s where you’ll find what you need.”_   
_“More riddles?”_

_The old man laughed a dry, paper thin laugh as she drifted off to sleep. Right before she slipped away in her dream, she heard the sound of paws pacing on the porch that ran the length of the cabin. Coyote stood guard outside the front door as they slept, she knew the young buck, the warrior, was tied to that golden one inside with the old man. She had thunder in her blood, Coyote thought, she was the one who could clear the way forward._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a light and breezy chapter full of humour, gentle conversation, and those quiet, intimate moments that couples share. Oliver and Felicity are gently peeling back the layers of who they are and what they mean to each other now that they are in a relationship.
> 
> It is sexy (without the sex - for now) and for Oliver, it is revealing as his dreams take him to a place closer to understanding the power of his connection to Felicity truly is. Coyote comes for a visit after Felicity gives him a lesson about the stars.
> 
> Note: I retell an old Lakota story in this part, old enough that I will be attaching a glossary of sorts as soon as my elder gets back to me with the proper pronunciations of a few of the older Lakota words. I want to be sure I am getting the sounds right lol

**Chapter Five**

  
_She is his salvation_  
 _When the lights go out_  
 _She pulls him into her orbit._

I

Oliver came in from his run to a silent villa. Felicity was a whirlwind of sound and life. Nothing was ever silent when she was in the room or awake. She would hum, sing or talk to herself when she wasn’t talking to him. It wasn’t a nervous tic, it was just her way of being and when it was quiet, he missed it.

Smiling and shaking his head, Oliver jokingly chided himself on this sudden neediness. He had never relied on or needed anyone since his return from exile, but Felicity rounded out his world. She shone light into the dimmest corners of his soul and pulled him through to safety. He loved her more and more each day and today was no exception. He had picked up his pace on the final leg of his run because he was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to see her.

“Felicity?” he called out softly as he checked first one then the other bedroom.

She was not in the bathtub in the second bedroom, so he wandered out onto the terrace and found her sound asleep on a lounger in the shade of the pergola. She was stunning in her turquoise bikini. He left her to sleep and went over to the terrace’s edge to take in all of Positano. The colours of the village came alive in the late afternoon sun, different shades of pastel blues, pinks and yellows, and the ocean was a deep cobalt blue and so calm. He could get used to living here. No one to chase him, mountains to run and climb, and Felicity could manage Palmer Tech from here. Maybe she would hand over being CEO and they could start a new life together here in Italy.

His thoughts wandered to gentler things as he stood looking over the ocean to the Isle of Capri. He was looking forward to taking Felicity to explore the grottos and for their three night stay in a secluded villa overlooking the Grotta Azzurra. So intense was his focus that he failed to hear her stir and yawn behind him.

“You look like a Roman God standing like that, looking out over your kingdom,” she said with a quiet chuckle.  
“A Roman God? A good one?” he teased as he went over to her.  
“A sweaty one,” she laughed as he laid down on top of her by way of a hug hello, “Get off of me! You are so heavy and damp!”  
“You love it.”  
“You need a shower.”  
“How about a dip in the pool?”  
“Yes! Anything to get you off of me!”

Oliver looked down at her with a smirk as he gave her a quick kiss. “You weren’t saying that last night.”  
“Oh my God!”  
“You did say that.”  
“Oliver!”  
“You are adorable when you blush.”

Oliver pushed himself up and started to strip down. Felicity watched him with a smirk of her own.

“The boxer briefs need to go, too,” she advised.  
“Why? They can double as swim trunks,” he said as he took off his shirt.  
“Oliver,” she laughed, “You aren’t paying attention.”

He turned to ask what she was talking about and watched her walking away from him, towards the pool, while trailing her bikini top behind her. The bottoms were on the lounger. How she had managed to do that so quickly both impressed and aroused him.

“When in Rome…” he chuckled and removed his underwear.

The water in the pool was warm from the sun and felt heavenly on his tired muscles. He could spend the day here, with just her, and never worry about anything ever again. He was happy and at peace.

“I love the view from here,” she said quietly. She had swam over to the far side of the pool and was resting her arms on the edge.

Oliver took advantage of this and came up behind her, gently pinning her to the side of the pool. He loved the suppleness of her body, how her curves fit against the hard planes of his, how soft her skin was and how good she smelled all the time.

“You’re tired aren’t you?” she asked.  
“That obvious?”  
“Well, by now you should have dragged me out of the pool and thrown me on that couch over there.”  
“And then what?” he hummed in her ear.  
“You know what,” she laughed.  
“All this skinny dipping for nothing.”  
“Oh, I don’t know. The view is beautiful, the company is wonderful and the water is gorgeous.”  
“You are remarkable, Felicity Smoak.”  
“I am. I really am.”  
“So do you want to stay in for dinner or head out again?”  
“In. We have to get up early tomorrow, right?”  
“Yup. You packed?”  
“We are only going for three days, Oliver.”  
“This is true. So, we really need to get you packed.”  
“Are you saying it will take me all night to get packed?”  
“Yes.”  
“Oliver Jonas Queen!”

Felicity spun around and tried to push him under but he easily fended her off and carried her out of the pool. The sun was dipping low in the sky and the air was cool on their skin. Oliver wrapped Felicity in a towel and dried himself off. Then grabbing the oversized blanket, wrapped them both in it and pulled her onto the couch with him.

“This is a little cozy,” she sighed.  
“I could stay like this forever,” he said softly.  
“Wouldn’t you get bored? Feel the need for something...more violent?” she asked.  
“Nope.”  
“Really? What about your sister? Diggle? Wouldn’t you miss them?”  
“Eventually but it is always possible to return stateside and see them. Diggle...I don’t think he will be ready for a visit from me anytime soon.”

Felicity fell silent. He could feel her breath across his chest, the soft rise and fall of her chest and the way she traced the outline of the tattoo on his side. It wasn’t like her to fall into this kind of silence unless she was deeply asleep. He glanced down at her and saw that she was staring, unfocused, off into the distance.

“Felicity?” he quietly asked, “What? What are you thinking?”  
“That...that getting Diggle to trust you again isn’t going to be easy but if you give it time and work for it, he will.”  
“If our roles were reversed…”  
“Oliver…,” she began but faded off.  
“What? You can tell me anything, Felicity,” he said.  
“Not this, Oliver. Not yet.”

Oliver stiffened slightly in her embrace. He knew what she was refusing to talk about, it was something he had shied away from even thinking about for the last two months. How could he ever make it up to the man he loved like a brother? He took his wife and left his child unattended all in an attempt to take Nyssa back to Nanda Parbat. For Ra’s. For the charade.

“Hey. Oliver,” she said with concern, “We’ll figure it out. Together. Ok?”  
“Ok,” he said, smiling down at her, “Just maybe not today, ok?”  
“Ok,” she smiled, trying to mask the sadness in her voice, “maybe let’s get cleaned up and I’ll help you make dinner?”  
“Oh...I...I mean…,” he stammered. He was trying so hard to not hurt her feelings when it came to her complete inability to do anything in the kitchen. When she burned the water, he secretly wrote her off as ever being able to cook forever but that didn’t mean he wanted her to feel bad about it.  
“Oliver…,” she broke off into peals of laughter and buried her face in his chest, muffling her voice, “You should see...your FACE!”

In answer, Oliver swooped her up in his arms, let the blanket fall away from them and then with a beaming smile, strode over to the pool and dropped her into it. The string of expletives that followed him into the villa actually made him blush. Just another thing to add to the growing list of things he loved her for.

Oliver laughed to himself as he headed into shower and get dressed. He was sure he would pay for this later but there were times when he just couldn’t help himself. After so many years of keeping a lock on his emotions and actions, the freedom he now felt with her to just be himself was sometimes more than he could actually control. He did, however, look forward to whatever was headed his way later that night.

 

II

 

“I still cannot believe you dropped me in the pool.”  
“Felicity,” he laughed despite all his best efforts not to, “that was hours ago!”  
“I know, Oliver.”  
“Drink some wine,” he suggested.  
“Why? So I get tipsy or drunk and you can hipcheck me into it again.”  
“When did you learn about hipchecking?” he asked in genuine disbelief.  
“Oliver!” she exclaimed in exasperation, “You are so going to pay for that.”  
“I expect no less than a full and total balancing of the prank book,” he said as he refilled her glass.  
“You are so cocky lately,” she chuckled as she reached for more bread.  
“Just eat,” he laughed.  
“I am! I have to admit, this is really good.”

Oliver smiled across at her. In the light of the setting sun and dancing candlelight, she was a vision of radiant good health and delicate beauty. He loved to look at her when her attention was diverted elsewhere, this time on the food in front of her, because she was so unguarded and free.

The longer they stayed away from the States, the freer they became and less he wanted to return. Diggle would never forgive him. Not after what he did to Lyla and Sara. There was no easy road back from what he did to John’s family. He had betrayed a sacred trust and broken the bond they had built through years of earned trust.

“Hey,” she called softly, “Where did you go?”  
“Hmmm..what? Nowhere,” he stammered.  
“Oliver, you disappeared from me. I know what that looks like.”  
“I was just thinking about Diggle…,” he reluctantly admitted, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to earn his forgiveness, Felicity.”

Putting down her fork, Felicity pushed back from the table, got up and reached out for his hand.  
“Come on,” she gently urged, “Let’s go watch the sunset.”  
“But you aren’t finished your dinner,” he protested.  
“Oh, I was done ten minutes ago but wow! That gnocchi was delicious.”  
“I love you,” he said simply and truly.  
“I love you, too,” she said in a voice as soft as a caress, “Now let’s go watch the sky.”

Oliver took her hand and let her pull him to his feet. Then followed her out to the plush couch under the pergola. The air was full of the scent of lemons, wisteria and roses and the sun was painting the coastal village in shades of fuchsia, purple and deep orange. The sky directly over heard was a cobalt blue that edged into a velvet black as it flowed over the mountains.

“Oliver,” she said quietly, “Where exactly are we going tomorrow?”  
“To the Isle of Capri.”  
“And what is on the Isle of Capri?” she asked as she played with his hands.  
“A surprise.”  
“No hint?”  
“Nope.”  
“I hate mysteries. They need to be solved.”  
“This isn’t a mystery!” he laughed, “It is a surprise! Smoak, only you could be pouty about a surprise.”  
“I am not pouting.”  
“Tell me about the constellation over there, the one that is rising over Sorrento.”

Felicity snuggled closer to him and proceeded to tell him about the constellation, Phoenix. How it had its origins in Arabic mythology and ancient astronomy, about how it rooted both old and new worlds through its wings. The longer she spoke, the more relaxed he became. Between the warm ocean breeze, Felicity’s gentle exploration of the night sky and the food and wine at dinner, the sleepier he grew.

“Hey,” she whispered, “let’s go to bed.”  
“I wasn’t asleep,” he mumbled.  
“Liar. And what are you? Six?” she laughed quietly.  
“Mmmm just relaxed.”  
“A few more minutes then. The moon is almost up.”  
“We do have an early alarm tomorrow morning.”  
“OH FRACK!” she exclaimed, leaping up, “I still need to pack!”  
“I am 100% not surprised to hear this,” he mused.  
“Yeah, yeah. You clean up the kitchen and I’ll pack.”

Oliver’s eyes snapped open and he groaned. He really just wanted to crawl into bed and watch Felicity as she packed and repacked her overnight bag a dozen times but he did need to clean up before he fell into bed. With any luck, he could get into bed when she was only halfway through her repacking.

“Hey, did you see where I dropped my small backpack?” he asked, ten minutes later as he walked into the bedroom.  
“It is over by the balcony door.”  
“Got it!”  
“That is all you are taking? Just that small backpack?”  
“Yeah,” he said somewhat mystified, “I don’t need much.”  
“You are such a guy.”

Oliver broke out into a huge grin. It had been years since he had been called a guy by anyone and to hear her say it, with a hint of exasperation, made him unreasonably happy. He knew he wouldn’t be bringing much and he knew it was making her crazy not knowing what his plans were once they landed on Capri. To make it worse, he made a show of only packing his swim trunks, a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts.

“That’s it? That’s all you are bringing?” she asked.  
“Yup!” he said as he got undressed and climbed into bed.  
“And now you are going to bed?”  
“Felicity,” he laughed, “just keep packing! Then you can join me.”  
“You’ll be asleep before I get in there.”  
“Maybe. Maybe not.”  
“I hate you.”

Oliver reached up above his head, making sure she could see his abs and arms, and turned off his bedside light. She glowered at him in the now dim light and he grinned at her. He was having far too much fun and knew she was not going to forget this but he couldn’t help himself.

“How many times have you repacked your suitcase?”  
“Oliver…”  
“I’m just curious!”  
“Ok,” she said, standing at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed, “What is the bet you made with yourself.”  
“Well…”  
“Oliver…”  
“Twelve.”  
“...I hate you.”

Oliver stared at her, his lips twitching.

“Don’t you dare laugh.”  
“Ok,” he wheezed.  
“Ok laugh before you kill yourself.”

So he laughed as she pouted and zipped up her suitcase. He laughed as she rolled it out to the front door. He had tears pouring down his face by the time he stopped. He saw the look on her face and instantly felt bad.

“Hey,” he said softly, “Come here.”  
“So you can laugh at me some more?”  
“No, not that.”  
“What then?”  
“Just come here,” he chuckled.

Felicity looked at him suspiciously but walked over to her side of the bed and turned off the light. In the moonlight, that was streaming in through the open balcony doors, she undressed and got into bed beside him.

“I know I can be a bit...I don’t know, fussy? About packing,” she admitted.  
“You are adorable when it comes to packing.”  
“Why are you only taking the small backpack? Tell me!” she exclaimed in frustration.  
“No!” he laughed as he easily defended himself from her mock blows.

Oliver rolled over, pinned her with his body weight and kissed her, and teased her mouth open with his tongue. He loved the way her lips would part and all the tension in their bodies would melt away the deeper the kiss grew.

“Shouldn’t we be going to sleep?” she murmured against his lips.  
“Perhaps,” he agreed, his lips seeking hers.  
“Ok then,” she said brightly, pushing him away, “Night!”  
“Wait...what?”  
“I said, good night,” Felicity said with a note of finality in her voice.  
“This is payback for the pool, isn’t it?”  
“That and the laughing.”  
“Felicity…” he cajoled gently.  
“Oliver, I actually am tired and this morning…” she hesitated.  
“What? This morning? Oh...wait, was I too rough?” he asked, suddenly alarmed.  
“No! But we weren’t exactly gentle, either.”

Oliver sat up and looked down at her. Gently, he brushed a few errant strands of her face. Her skin was glowing and her eyes had sparks of light and life in them. Trailing a thumb lightly over her lips, he smiled at her. He had promised her that he would listen to her when she said no, and she was clearly saying that tonight wasn’t a good night.

“Sleep it is,” he said gently.  
“I love you, Oliver Queen,” she whispered as though she didn’t trust her own voice.  
“I love you, Felicity Smoak.”

Pulling the duvet up over them, Oliver pulled her to him and relaxed into the bed and her. It had surprised him how much he enjoyed cuddling up to her when they slept. He felt anchored when she was in her arms and now it was just a habit that they both enjoyed.

“It is good to take a night or two off,” she mumbled softly as she drifted off to sleep.  
“It is. Capri will be that much better,” he agreed.  
“Island sex is good sex,” she yawned.  
And with that comment, he quietly laughed himself into the dark of sleep.

 

III

 

_Oliver grew aware of a difference in light and and temperature from behind his closed eyes. He smelled a fire and the welcoming aroma of what he now knew was chicory and dandelion tea. He was back in the cabin with the Old Man. It was peaceful in the cabin, warm and quiet, and he felt at home sitting on the couch with him._

_He felt the cushions shift under him and heard the Old Man slowly rise to his feet and stretch. He wasn’t ready to enter his dream just yet, so he pretended to still be asleep. The Old Man shuffled away and he heard a door softly close._

_“Ok, young buck,” he called, “time to get up. We have things we need to get done.”_   
_“I can’t have five more minutes?” Oliver asked sleepily._   
_“Thinking about that golden woman, aren’t you?” he chuckled, “She is in your blood now.”_   
_“What gave me away?” Oliver asked as he got up and stretched. He did a quick glance to make sure he didn’t have an erection. He fell asleep wanting to make love to her but respected her request for them to take a night off. It didn’t mean his body had caught up to his agreement._   
_“When you think about her, you glow, too.”_

_Oliver smiled. Felicity had brought so much into his life that he couldn’t help but show it. Even in his dreams, he was glowing with love for her and that made him unreasonably happy. He was so happy to be with her that he couldn’t contain it. The Old Man was looking at him with an amused smirk on his deeply lined, brown face._

_“Come on, let’s go sit outside on the porch,” the old man said, “We have a few things to discuss while we wait.”_   
_“Wait? For what?”_   
_“Not what, who.”_   
_“Someone else is coming to join me?”_   
_“There is always someone else, young buck,” the old man laughed._   
_“Well, this is a dream so I’m curious.”_

_The old man turned and looked at Oliver. His eyes twinkled and he laughed his dry chuckle. He lowered his wiry frame down into an old rocking chair and pointed to the one next to him, indicating Oliver was to take up residence there. With a chuckle and small shake of his head, he gingerly sat down on the old wooden chair and looked out across to the imposing butte._

_It was probably ten miles away but its size was still immense. He knew he would get closer eventually but also that the old man was drawing this out, making him wait, and he suspected it had something to do with the “someone” they were waiting for. He secretly was hoping it would be Coyote but wasn’t holding onto that hope given how these dreams tended to work out._

_“So, this someone we are waiting for…,” Oliver began inquisitively, “would they be blonde? Wearing glasses?”_   
_“Oh just you wait,” the old man laughed. “They’ll be here soon enough. In the meantime, tell me about that scar.”_

_Oliver looked at him carefully, searching for any hint of what he was hiding. But the old man stared out across the Plains, watching the way the cloud’s shadows swept across the earth and the distinct passage of time. Oliver joined him in his contemplation of the view and wondered if he would ever be able to find a place like this just for him and Felicity. Someplace they could just unplug and relax._

_“The golden woman, you never let her go do you?” the old man asked._   
_“What?” Oliver was startled and rattled by his question._   
_“You bring her. Even here, to where you can let your thoughts go, find out something new about what’s in there,” the old man said while pointing at Oliver’s chest, “Your thoughts turn to her and you start to glow. You need your own fire, young buck, or you’ll burn her out.”_

_Oliver sat back and looked at the old man, trying to figure out if he was being admonished or praised but he suspected he was being made fun of in a very real sense. He hadn’t been aware of just how often he thought about her as she was always in the forefront of his mind. She just...was._

_“Here she comes,” the old man said wistfully._

_Oliver followed the old man’s eyes and saw a doe walking up the dirt path to the front door. She walked with confidence, like she wasn’t really a deer. She strode up to them, with no hesitancy and like she knew who was sitting on the rocking chairs on the creaking, wooden porch. For just a moment, as she passed through the shadow of the lone cottonwood, Oliver was sure he saw a glint of something human in her face._

_“She knows you, you know,” the old man said quietly, “You need to listen to her before you go.”_   
_“Go? Do you mean wake up?” Oliver asked completely confused._   
_“Oh you’ll wake up soon enough, but she has a message for you before you head up that butte.”_   
_“There is no way I’m climbing that,” Oliver said with finality, thinking about the mountain he had climbed to fight Ra’s._

_The old man chuckled and watched the doe approach them. She was strong, tall and keenly aware that the two men in front of her were as opposite as day and night. She had a story to tell Oliver if only he was able to hear it._

_“She’s talking to you right now,” the old man chuckled._   
_“She is?” Oliver looked at the doe closer but couldn’t see her mouth moving._   
_“Stop staring, young buck, sit back and close your eyes,” the old man instructed._

_Oliver did as he was told and relaxed into the old wooden bones of his rocking chair. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be hearing or listening for but he was enjoying the feel of the breeze and the sounds of the forest. It was as he relaxed his hearing that he was able to locate her voice._

_It was soft at first, more whisper than voice but when it came into focus and he could hear her, she was laughing at him. She was talking to the old man, calling him something that sounded like Walkon Tonka and joking that he might be too old to follow Oliver up the butte._

_She was introducing herself, Hey Kaza Winyan, was the closest he could hear. It wasn’t exact but it was close enough that she laughed when he tried to repeat it back in his mind. She told him he could call her Deer Woman, just to keep it easy._

_Deer Woman asked him why he was here, why was he with the old man. When he couldn’t answer, they both laughed, something he was growing tired of and indicated so with a slight furrowing of his brow. She took pity on him but the old man did not. He was enjoying Oliver’s confusion and laughing as the sun slowly began to sink behind them._

_Oliver opened his eyes and looked at Deer Woman, who wasn’t a woman at all, and saw something familiar in her eyes. There were whorls of orange, glimmers of blue and an expanse of blackness that spoke of the limitlessness of the universe in her eyes. He’d seen those eyes before, he’d looked into them shortly before falling asleep and entering the dream._

_“You recognize those eyes, don’t you, young buck?”_   
_“I do but this makes absolutely no sense,” Oliver said, completely mystified at what this could mean._   
_“This is just one aspect of Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan.”_   
_“You keep saying those words but I have no idea what they mean,” he said somewhat petulantly._   
_“Don’t worry, you will,” the old man chuckled, “And when you do, you’ll find some words of your own.”_   
_“That’s a good thing, I hope.”_   
_“Some men live a hundred lives and never hear the words meant just for them.”_

_Deer Woman looked from Oliver to the old man and then over to the side of the cabin. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to face the growing shadows of the forest. A quiet yipping could be heard from just out of sight and in the slowly dimming light, Oliver could make out the very faint movement of the bushes moving._

_Gingerly, Coyote moved out from the shadows and into the night. Deer Woman visibly relaxed and gently laid down in the grass as though in wait. They looked at each other from across the clearing and to Oliver’s untrained eye, it looked like they nodded to one another in greeting._

_Just as he was about to ask the old man what was to come next, Coyote threw her head back and howled up to the rising moon._

Oliver awoke with a start with the echo of Coyote’s nightly call in his ears and singing through his bones like a memory. For just a moment, he couldn’t remember where he in the world he was sleeping. The smell of the plains was in his nose and he could still hear the old man’s paper thin laugh coming from somewhere close by.

Turning over, he searched for Felicity in the vast expanse of the bed. She had slipped away from his embrace at some point and was curled up on her side of it. With as much stealth as he could, he eased himself closer to her knowing she would turn herself towards him. She could sense his nearness even when deeply asleep and would push her body towards him on instinct alone.

Oliver closed his eyes and breathed in the lingering smell of her perfume, the scent of the ocean on the light evening breeze and a faint but distinctive odor or a wood stove. He fell back asleep chasing Coyote’s shadow and wondering if the old man would be waiting for him on Capri.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver takes Felicity for a romantic getaway on their romantic getaway (yup, he whisks her away after having already whicked her away) to the Isle of Capri. However, Felicity wrestles with her conscience as she balances her need to be connected to the team in Starling and present with Oliver in Italy.
> 
> Lots of love in this one and she re-enters her dream with the Old Man and Coyote and discovers more about herself and Oliver.
> 
> Seriously. So much sex.

**Chapter Six**

  
_Stepping carefully forward_  
 _She clings to the past_  
 _Unfulfilled._

 

I

Felicity awoke to the aroma of coffee brewing and eggs cooking in the kitchen. She fought the impulse to get up and lost. If there was one thing she wanted at any time of the day or night, it was coffee. The beans they found in Pompeii were the best she had ever had and would savour every mouthful of it. Plus, if Oliver was making breakfast, she was further compelled to get a start on the day.

“Oliver?” she called out, “Did you make enough for me?”  
“I value my life, Felicity,” he answered, “I made more than enough.”  
“You are a god amongst men, my love.”  
“I’m glad you FINALLY noticed.”

Felicity laughed while she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the small kitchen table. She loved watching Oliver in the kitchen. He moved with efficiency and confidence between the stove and the counter, it was like he was born knowing how to cook.

“What exactly are you making?”  
“Eggs Florentine.”  
“For real?” she asked excitedly, “I LOVE that! Are you making your Hollandaise sauce, too?”  
“Of course. I value my life, Felicity.”

Oliver set her breakfast in front of her with an exaggerated flourish and watched as she dug in. His new found love of cooking was something she wanted to encourage forever so if he wanted to watch her appreciate his offering, she would gladly put on a show.

“Oliver, you have outdone yourself,” she said between bites, “This is the best hollandaise you’ve ever made.”  
“It’s the lemons here, they are sweeter,” he said as he cleaned up.  
“Aren’t you having any?”  
“There was just enough for one plate. We burned through our food pretty quick.”  
“Come and share. Grab a fork.”  
“You sure? You are always pretty hungry first thing in the morning.”  
“Oliver, grab a fork and sit down.”

Felicity could hear him quietly chuckling to himself but he got himself a fork and sat down opposite her. With one last questioning look at her, he waited for her to rescind her offer. When she smiled, he took a bite, enjoying the fruits of his labour.

“Where did you get the lemons? I thought we were out.”  
“I wandered down to the orchard this morning after my run.”  
“You went running already? It’s 9 am.”  
“Felicity, you know me. I am awake as soon as the sun comes up.”  
“We will never have the same sleep schedules.”  
“We should get going at about 11:30. The ferry leaves at 1 pm but we could grab a snack at that cafe down by the shore.”  
“That sounds like a lovely idea,” Felicity said as she finished the last of the toast.  
“Go have a shower and I’ll finish cleaning up,” he said as he stood up, leaned over the table and gave her a quick kiss.  
“I shouldn’t be long. Don’t...say anything.”

Felicity could hear Oliver laughing at her as she left the kitchen. He started to whistle as he cleaned up and it filled her heart her with a special kind of joy, the kind reserved for only him. He was unfurling before her into a new person and she was so grateful for him including her in the journey.

As she walked through their bedroom, she heard her phone buzzing softly in her bag. She was surprised to see a text from Thea and three from Diggle. As she wandered into the bathroom, reading as she went, she froze when she saw why they were sending her messages. They were fighting to keep the city safe and needed specific information about an abandoned warehouse in order to stop a huge shipment of guns and explosives coming in from Opal City.

Quickly, before Oliver came into the bedroom, she grabbed her tablet and locked herself into the bathroom. She felt pangs of guilt as she thought about how she was lying to him but not telling him about the team reaching out for help. They had left the city in good hands but on occasion, they needed her to help out with hacking into systems and getting schematics.

Both Thea and Dig were looking for her to send the schematics before they went out on patrol, which meant she had exactly an hour to get them what they needed. Setting up her tablet, she connected to the wifi but then found her way into a satellite uplink and went to work.

It was hard navigating her way into the specific site she needed to be in and time slipped by her unnoticed. Felicity was stubborn and single minded when it came to hacking and while she knew her way into Starling’s city plans like the back of her hand, she had to spend time reminding herself where the backdoors were that she left for herself so many months ago.

Finally, she found the warehouse they needed and began the process of uploading it to the bunker’s computers. The time it would take depended on the stability of the connection she had found in the satellite array between Italy and Starling. So far, the link was holding but the upload was going to take at least an hour if not more.

Checking the time, she saw with alarm that it was almost 10:30 am. She needed to buy more time if she was going to get the blueprints securely uploaded. An idea came to her just as Oliver knocked on the door, causing her to jump.

“Hey, Felicity? Have you had a shower yet?”  
“Not yet...my stomach is really upset,” she lied with a wince. This was not what she wanted to do to the man she loved. For just a moment, as she waited for him to respond, it felt like snow falling on her heart.

“Do you need anything?” he asked in concern.  
With another grimace, Felicity answered, “No, I don’t. I should be ok in a bit. Why don’t you go to the ferry and check our stuff in and I’ll meet you there at noon.”  
“Are you sure? What if…”  
“I need a glass of water? Oliver, I am in the bathroom,” she chuckled.  
“Ok,” he agreed reluctantly, “Do you have your phone with you?”  
“...”  
“Right. Silly question,” he laughed, “Was it something I cooked?”  
“I think I’ve been eating a lot of rich foods lately,” she teased.  
“Salads from now on it is!”  
“Hey now, let’s not get crazy!”  
“Ok, ok,” he chuckled, “I’ll get going. I’d much rather wait but just so long as it isn’t food poisoning…”  
“Oh no, I know what that is, this is just an upset stomach.”  
“Alright, but if you don’t show in an ninety minutes, I am coming back for you.”  
“I love you.”  
“Love you, too.”

With that, he was gone and Felicity felt so guilty she almost burst into tears. The team needed her help but she had made a promise to herself to be present in this vacation with Oliver, to leave all the pain of the past behind her but she felt like something was missing. Helping the team reconnected her to the purpose she had found with Oliver. She loved it, she needed it, but the betrayal of trust she was participating in now was too much.

As the files continued to upload, Felicity sent a text to Thea asking for a few days peace as she and Oliver were going on an excursion to a secluded location. She didn’t explain it, to save Thea any embarrassment, but she made it clear she wasn’t going to answer any calls for help. She owed herself and Oliver that much at the very least.

Without waiting for a reply, she stripped down out of her pajamas and headed into the shower. She was actually grateful for the private time in the villa, to get ready for the trip to Capri and generally just get herself together. Being with Oliver was overwhelming at times, so much so that she felt like she was losing who she was and wanted to be. Taking this time for herself was exactly what she needed.

The upload was only at 70% by the time she finished in the shower. She was beginning to suspect that she wasn’t going to make it to the ferry on time. Instead of watching and worrying, Felicity got ready for the ferry ride and trip to the Isle of Capri. They were staying near one of the smaller, less visited grottos and she was curious as to what it looked like and how Oliver had found it. He had warned her that the trip would be windy and cool, so she added a light sweater to her bag. Otherwise, she was wearing a thin blue cotton dress, one she had picked up in Thailand, that she knew he liked. He had commented on how it made her eyes glow and shine a deeper blue.

With ten minutes to go, she checked the upload and saw it was within 2% of completion. If it didn’t finish soon she would miss the bus that would drop her off at the dock and then she would be in trouble. She didn’t want to disappoint Oliver but she also didn’t want to let the team down. This tear within her was starting to grow in size. Maybe this small side trip was a good time to start talking about going back to somewhere near Starling.

So she waited. And waited. And as the bus rolled by outside, the upload shifted to 99% done. Felicity lowered her head into her hands and groaned. She could catch the next one but it would drop her off at the top of the road that lead to the ferry, which left her with a 20 minute walk. No matter what she did, she was going to miss the ferry.

With only five minutes to get out to the bus stop, the files finish loading, Felicity shut the tablet off, grabbed her charger for her phone and ran out the door to catch the bus. She made it with seconds to spare and sank into the thinly padded seat with a mixture of relief and guilt. She had prioritized the team above Oliver, when he had made such an effort to show her something special and uniquely intimate just for them.

Her phone buzzed just as the bus entered the village limits. She knew it was Oliver and froze. She had no idea what to say to him. She decided to keep it simple and just tell him she missed the right bus by seconds and had to wait. There was another ferry at 2:30 pm so they had time to get to Capri before the sun went down. But her stomach was in knots and she was sure he would see right through her lie.

Her phone vibrated again and she ignored it. She would text him from the path down to the ferry and face the music when she saw him. The bus climbed the final hill into Positano and pulled up to the stop that let out all the passengers who wanted to get to the ferry. Felicity exited with them and paused by the side of the road to text Oliver that she was almost there.

“Well, Felicity,” she said to herself, “Let’s get moving.”

 

II

“Oliver,” she said hesitantly as she slipped her hand into his, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that time was so short.”  
“Felicity, I’ve already said it’s ok.”

She looked at him and saw the tightness in his jaw. His shoulders were ramrod straight and he was stiff next to her. She had paid extra for a private sitting area when he wasn’t looking and now they were enjoying a beautiful view for the one hour they would be onboard. But he wasn’t relaxing and it deepened her rightly felt feelings of guilt and regret.

“You’ve barely looked at me since we met up.”  
“I…,” he faltered for a moment, “I wish you had texted or called me to tell me you weren’t well.”  
“But I am here. I’m ok,” she insisted and she tugged on his hand.

Oliver rewarded her with a smile. She felt him finally begin to relax as the ferry pulled out of the terminal. She didn’t want to disappoint him on this side trip so she had some making up to do. Gently, she kissed the inside of his wrist and nestled into his side, willing him to put his arm around her. She shivered in the cool air and pulled her sweater closed. Oliver must have felt her involuntary movement because he finally wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and laying a soft kiss on top of her head.

“I’m sorry, Felicity.”  
“For what?”  
“For...for not being more flexible. I’m trying, though.”  
“Oliver, you are amazing.”  
“What?” he said in genuine surprise.  
“You are probably the strongest person I know. Everyday you surprise me which is one of the reasons I love you.”  
“I am so glad you put on that supersuit and saved me.”  
“Please don’t get yourself thrown off any more dams. I was terrified in that thing.”  
“Your bravery...Felicity, there is nothing you can’t do.”  
“Except be on time for a ferry to the Isle of Capri,” she teased.

Oliver laughed and they settled into a comfortable silence as they watched the Amalfi Coast line pass them by. The beauty of this part of the world was truly stunning. The low lying orchards, the tall, green covered mountains and pastel homes that dotted the coast line. She was slowly falling in love with Positano, its people, music, and food. Oliver was enjoying exploring the cuisine of this part of Italy and she was happy to explore it with him.

Before she knew it, they were walking off the ferry and into the warm Capri afternoon. While she went to gather up their bags from the baggage claim, Oliver rented a car and got directions to the best local market. She should have anticipated that he would be cooking for them over the course of the next few days. She had to admit, she was really looking forward to whatever he had in mind.

“How about you go get some wine while I get what I need?”  
“What kind? You know I am terrible with wine.”  
“Just say you need pairings for chicken, chocolate and passata.”  
“Pa-what?”  
“Just go,” he laughed and headed off to the market.

Twenty minutes later, she met him back at the car with one bottle of the best white wine from southern Italy, Fiano di Avellino, one of a rosé Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio and a Sicilian dessert wine, Moscato. She knew she had done well, when Oliver looked up in surprise at her selections. Felicity felt almost stupidly proud that she had managed to impress him.

“How much food did you buy?” she asked as she spied the backseat of the car. It was almost overflowing with shopping bags.  
“Enough.”  
“For the Isle of Capri?”  
“We are here for 3 days, Felicity.”  
“True,” she laughed and settled in for the half hour drive to their cottage villa.

Capri was spectacular. They passed cactus fields, lemon groves, olive and grape orchards as they made their way up and over the centre of the Isle. Then they turned off the main road onto Via Grotta Azzurra and from beneath the canopy of twining ficus trees the Gulf of Naples came into view. The water was a deep cobalt blue under a clear blue sky with the distant Isola d’Ischia shimmering in the distance.

Oliver slowed the car and turned off the narrow road onto a small cement car pad. At first Felicity thought they were at a scenic outlook until she saw the stone steps that lead down to a small cottage villa perched on the cliff’s edge high above the Mediterranean Sea below. The red clay tiled roof of their cottage peaked out from beneath the ficus and wild lemon trees and the air smelled of oleander.

It was a small slice of paradise that he had found just for her.

“How many trips is it going to take to get all this down there?” she asked.  
“Not many. If you take the wine and my backpack, I can handle the rest. The key will be under the doormat apparently.”  
“That sounds...safe. Are you sure I can’t take more from you? There are a lot of steps...”  
“Felicity,” was all he had to say in that ‘are you kidding me?’ voice for her to burst out laughing.

Taking the wine and his ridiculously light backpack from him, Felicity made her way down to the front door. The cottage was nondescript from the outside but when she located the key, which was indeed under the mat, the small building revealed itself in spectacular fashion as soon as she opened the door.

The kitchen, which was immediately to her left, opened into a small eating area with a large bay window that overlooked a small herb garden full of sweet smelling basil, oregano, thyme and coriander. She put the wine on the counter and stepped out into the large main room and stood in awe of whomever designed the cottage.

Against one wall was a stone fireplace that must be well used in the winter months when the winds would shift to the north channeling the cooler air from the far away Atlantic Ocean, but the side of the cottage that faced the Gulf was a series of three large floor to ceiling windows. The view was dizzying. From where she stood in the living room, all she could see was sea, deep blue which was in constant motion.

She heard Oliver come in and begin putting away their groceries but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the view. There was a breeze coming in from two smaller windows that flanked the central three windows and it brought with it the salty fresh scent of the water below.

“So, what do you think?” Oliver asked quietly as he came up behind her.  
“It’s amazing, Oliver,” she answered as she leaned back into him. He wrapped her in his arms and together they stood watching the waves form in the distance and listening to them crash into the rocks below.  
“Why don’t you go check out the other rooms and I’ll get dinner started.”  
“Is there something special about the other rooms?” she asked.  
“Not that I know of,” he chuckled, “but you could take our bags with you when you check them out.”  
“Well, in exchange for what I am sure will be an amazing dinner, ok.”

Felicity made her way through an arched doorway and down a short hallway to the closed bedroom door. She opened it and was greeted by a room straight out of fairytale. It must have been part of a much older structure that had long since been torn down or fallen down. The walls and floor were stone. The windows were old, leaded glass set in the middle of incredibly thick and deep wells. The ceiling was modern and contained a large skylight that was centred directly over the king sized bed.

She was about to search out the bathroom when she noticed a French door on the wall that faced the sea. Curiosity overtook her and she opened it to find a balcony that spanned the width of the bedroom. It wasn’t overly wide but it held a small loveseat and series of lanterns with electric candles inside. The large bedroom window on that side had outdoor shutters they could close at night that would let them see the sky at night while keeping the room cool during the day.

She left their bags in the room and went in search of the bathroom. If there was a tub for two, she wanted to find it first. Oliver had such a weird fascination with tubs that it was starting to rub off on her. What she found was a tub for one, but what a tub!

It was set in front of a large plate glass window, that had wisteria vines hanging down over it, and was made from polished stone. It was stunning and she hoped that she could try it out before they left to return to Positano. She turned to leave and caught sight of the shower. It made her forget the tub almost immediately. While the tub faced towards the cliffside, the shower was built around a wall to ceiling plate glass window that faced the ocean. It was easily large enough to accommodate four people and had both a stone seating ledge and three rainfall shower heads.

Closing the door behind her as she left, Felicity couldn’t wait for Oliver to see both of these rooms. If running Palmer Tech didn’t work out, she and Oliver could live comfortably for the rest of their lives off of the income she could make from the shares alone. If she could pick, this would be the place she would want to spend at least a year or two in. It was perfect for them.

“So, what’s for dinner?” she called.  
“Just ravioli with tomato passata sauce and a Caprese salad.”  
“Just.”  
“Grab the plates, cutlery and candles and set us up in the eating area.”  
“Yes, sir!”

Oliver laughed at her but did not take his eyes off of the sauce as he slowly stirred it. His focus was amazing, she thought. He loved the entire act of cooking, not just making food, but the art of making it. She was so thankful that she loved to eat it.

“So how did you find this place?” she asked.  
“I asked the owner of that restaurant we found if he knew of any special places I could take you. He gave me the phone number of the owner and told me to call and see if it was available.”  
“Oliver…,” she started to speak but her voice faltered. For just a moment she was overcome with such an intense feeling of love for him that she was rendered speechless. He was always willing to go one step further to show her how much she meant to him and she had almost wrecked what was to be a romantic side trip planned for her.

“Felicity? What is it? Are you ok?” he asked in alarm as he looked up and saw her face.  
“Yes, yes, I am,” she said, recovering quickly, “I was just...I was just thinking about how you had to get back on a boat to bring me here. I know...I know boats aren’t your favourite things.”  
“But you are,” he said gently.

She smiled at that and turned to finish setting the table.

“So, what kind of bedroom did we get? Small and airless?” he asked as he brought over the salad and wine.  
“Oh, oh no,” she said, shaking her head emphatically, “that room must have won awards. Same with the bathroom.”  
“Please tell me it has a large tub…”  
“Go check for yourself.”  
“Light the candles and I’ll be right back.”

Felicity laughed as he quickly went to see and set about lighting the candles and picked her seat. She wanted to be able to see the sun as it went down and if he was going to leave her to her own devices, she was getting the best seat.

“That bathroom is something else,” he said as he rejoined her, “The bedroom though, I mean that is one amazing room.”  
“I told you. I can see us spending a lot of time in there.”  
“I was going to sleep on the couch, but ok,” Oliver deadpanned.  
“Pour me some wine and let’s negotiate.”  
“You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Smoak.”  
“But...I haven’t even started to make any offers.”  
“Ok! Ok! I’ll sleep with you! Enough of the hard sell!”

Felicity shook her head and laughed. Oliver’s sense of humour was a thing of beauty and every time he made her laugh, it reminded her of how stalwart and sullen he used to be. His smile lit up her world like the sun and it was all she could do to not suggest they eat later. But knowing him, and the way he cooked, she would bet a lot of money that everything was time sensitive and she was not going to mess with perfection.

She was richly rewarded. The ravioli was locally made and the sauce he put together was fresh and tangy. The white wine she had selected went perfectly with both the salad and main course and she thanked her lucky stars she had met a man who could cook.

“So, I noticed there is no tv here and that you left your tablet behind.”  
“Oh you did, did you?”  
“Does this mean I have your undivided attention?”  
“Of course,” she said softly, reaching across to take his hand, “Unless you want to talk about baseball in which case I will throw myself off a cliff.”

Laughing, Oliver got up and cleared away their dishes. Sitting back in her chair, Felicity watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon. The sky was painted in shades of vibrant orange and the sea was slowly calming. She could smell the herb garden and hear the call of song birds as they came back to the ficus trees to roost for the night. It was during this twilight time that she felt how truly ancient the land was and felt the pull of history all around her.

“Come on,” he said, interrupting her reverie, “grab your glass and let’s watch the sunset from the living room.”  
“Oh, yes please,” she said, “From where I am sitting, the sky looks alive.”

Following him out, she was stunned by what she was seeing. The entire sky above the horizon was ringed with a deep purple, almost an indigo, but it merged into a pulsing orange and light pink. It reminded her of Bali except for the colour of the sea. It was mauve in the early evening light. She sat in silence while the night sky came into view.

“This wine is amazing,” Oliver mused as he divided up the remainder of the bottle between them.  
“The Tears of Christ is what it translates to,” she said softly, as though speaking too loud was a sacrilegious act.  
“Remind me to pick up a couple of more bottles before we leave.”  
“I think it has a high alcohol content because I am feeling a bit lightheaded.”  
“I have always wanted to get you drunk.”  
“Just ‘njoy the sunset, Queen,” she laughed.

Sitting sideways, Oliver opened his arms to her and she cuddled in. Coming to rest between his legs with her head on his broad chest. This was her favourite resting position. She loved the sound of his heart as it beat so powerfully in his chest and the way he could wrap one arm around her providing a space of comfort and refuge.

She didn’t want this night to end, despite how it had begun, it was ending in perfection. As a blaze of stars came into view, she felt the tips of Oliver’s fingers gently moving up and down her back. Shock waves of energy shot through her and she reflexively tightened her hand on his chest. He knew her reactions well enough now to know what would galvanize her to action.

Slipping her hand under his shirt, she found the seams in his skin that she had mapped by touch. She found the shark bite, the knife wounds and burns. She located a small scar that he didn’t know he had on his side by his left hip and the gaping scar in his chest left by Ra’s. She could feel the way his breathing changed the longer she explored his living and knotted skin. His body was responding to her touch and his caresses momentarily stopped.

“Oliver…,” she murmured in a husky voice, “are you done with your wine?”  
“Mmmhmm,” he answered.  
“Good,” she said as she pushed herself up and off the couch.  
“Where are you going?” he asked.  
“Follow me,” was all she said as she turned and walked across the room towards the hallway door. As she walked away, she shrugged her shoulders and let the straps of the dress fall down her arms. With a simple movement, the dress fell to the floor and she left the living room.

She had just opened the door to the bedroom when she heard Oliver get up and follow her. The air in the room was cool and fresh as she had left the balcony door open and she could hear the waves on the rocky shore below. Crossing over to the bed she turned so she could watch Oliver come into the room.

His eyes found her in the dim evening light and he froze. He had stopped to pick up her dress and she watched it slip from his hands as he looked at her. She was no longer uncomfortable under his gaze when he looked at her like this, like she wasn’t real but instead just an image created in his mind. She shivered in anticipation as she waited for him to cross the room to her.

“Felicity...you should see you…”  
“Come here,” she coaxed.

Oliver crossed the room in three long strides and stood mere inches from her. Lightly, he traced the shape of her face, trailing his thumbs over her lips and down her neck. She loved how tenderly he touched her. These same hands currently exploring her neck and shoulders had held weapons that had taken the lives of so many, yet here in the warm, southern Italian air they were soft and yielding, caused her breath to catch in her throat and her heart to pound.

Felicity once again let her hands travel up his shirt, tracing his tortured flesh with the tenderest of touches, until he lowered his head and pressed his forehead into hers. There was something about how she caressed him that seemed to touch wounds that went deeper than the scars on his skin. She could feel him trembling under her fingertips and it moved her in such a profound way she stopped and wrapped her arms around him.

It felt like their souls were linking in the quiet of the descending night. Oliver turned them around so that he could sit on the edge of the bed. Gently, he kissed her between her breasts as his hands moved in an ever changing pattern over her back, then he massaged her hips and butt and travelled down her legs. She loved the feel of his lips as they moved down her body.

Using his thumbs, he hooked her panties by the waistband, gently tugged them down over her hips and let them fall to the floor. He pulled her in close and slowly used his fingers to tease her open. And he lowered his head so that he could softly trace her clit with the tip of his tongue.

She had been running her fingers through his hair and as his tongue touched her, she tightened her grip on it. She wanted to grab him, push him back onto the bed and free his erection from his pants so that she could feel him inside of her. But she took a deep breath and steadied herself. Oliver was taking his time with how he was touching her, pushing her to an almost mindless state. She wanted to see how long they could deny themselves the inevitable.

“Felicity,” he murmured against her, “lie down.”

Instead, without a word, she leaned down and kissed him. It was a long, deep, passionate kiss. Oliver needed no prompting and opened to her completely. Their tongues danced and stroked the other with such intensity, they both had to stop and catch their breath. Felicity pulled the hem of his shirt up and Oliver lifted his arms so she could take it off. As she did, he leaned forward and gently sucked first one nipple and then the other.

Felicity gripped his shoulders as his tongue rasped against their sensitive skin. He slowly worked his hand between her legs, pushing two fingers inside her and gently pulsed them forward. His thumb stroked her clit and she felt her hips begin to move in coordinated time with his hand. Her legs started to shake and she gripped him tighter to her.

“Oh God, Oliver,” she moaned, “ Don’t...don’t stop.”

Oliver failed to listen and she slumped against him as he took his hand away, he took that opening to swing her around so that she could lie down on the bed. Felicity watched as he took off his pants, freeing his incredibly erect cock, and then kneel on the floor in front of her. He reached up, ran his hands down her body and slowly pushed her legs apart.

She loved this part. The anticipation of what he was going to do. Was he going to explore her legs with his hands and mouth? Was he going to kiss the inside of her thighs? Would he use his fingers to bring her to orgasm? Or would he dive in and use his tongue and mouth to push her past her limits? Sometimes he used both his hands and mouth and that would cause her body to bend and arch as she came.

This time he ran his hands down the inside of her thighs, opened her with his fingers and lowered his mouth to cover her completely. She felt his tongue push inside her and gasped. He sometimes didn’t take the time necessary to do this but when he did, she felt untethered. It was a sensation like no other. She focused on her breathing to try and ride the waves of pleasure each small thrust of his tongue caused to flow over her.

Oliver linked their hands together as he shifted his attention to her sensitive clit. He sucked and licked it with increasing pressure until she could no longer hold her release back. With a long, low moan, Felicity felt the uncoiling pressure in her spine let go and she came in a flood over his tongue. But he was unrelenting and soon she felt another orgasm building low in her pelvis. She cried out and gripped his hands as her hips moved of their own accord.

“Oh God...Oliver…,” was all she was able to gasp before he positioned himself over top of her. He nuzzled her nose and then kissed her with such love and passion, she found herself lost in between their heart beats. She could taste herself on his tongue and moaned into the kiss.

So focused on his mouth was she, that she didn’t feel him reach between their bodies and slowly guided himself into her. She felt that initial resistance and then her body shifted to accommodate his hard length. He anchored their bodies by pressing down on her pelvis with his own and slowly, almost languidly, began to thrust inside of her.

The way he was able to reach that one special place deep inside her left her gasping for breath and the slower he moved, the more intense the feeling became. She ran her hands over his back, stopping to gently trace the arrowhead brand left by Ra’s, and then down over his hips. She loved being able to feel the way his muscles moved under his skin as he found the perfect rhythm.

“Oh my God, Felicity…” he whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

Without increasing his tempo, he pushed her closer and closer to another orgasm, one that was building deep within her. She wanted to meet his thrusts, to move faster, harder against him but he had positioned his body perfectly to hold her in place as he moved like a powerful ocean wave over her. She lost herself to his lips on her neck, the way he would suck her bottom lip before drawing her into a kiss so powerful and intense, it felt like hurricane blowing through her.

Distantly, she heard herself gasping and calling out Oliver’s name, over and over, as a warmth spread out throughout her entire body. She felt her body go loose, as though she had entered into a deep state of relaxation, before every nerve ending came to life and she felt ecstasy flood every part of her body. This orgasm was deeply rooted within her and she felt her body tighten and clamp down around him.

But still he maintained the same slow pulsing rhythm even as he struggled to hold back his own release. Felicity dragged her nails lightly over the back of his neck, knowing that if there was one thing she could do to drive him to harder action, it was this. She was rewarded almost immediately.

For a few seconds his hips stilled and he pushed himself up a few inches so that he could look her in the eyes. His hips began to move faster and his breathing grew shorter, harder against her skin. She arched her back as she rocketed towards yet another pulsing, throbbing orgasm and felt him swell inside her. He lowered his head to her shoulder and groaned, a primal sound that rose up and out of his chest, as he came hot and alive inside her.

“Oh my God, Oliver…,” she gasped, “Why did we wait so long to start doing this together?”  
“Because I am an idiot,” he mumbled into her shoulder.  
“I didn’t think I was going to survive that.”  
“I felt like I owed you.”  
“Well, consider yourself paid in full. That...was amazing.”  
“Come on,” he said softly, “Let’s wash up in that amazing shower.”  
“You are going to have to help me up.”

Laughing at her, Oliver scooped her up and carried her into the bathroom. The shower was enormous but what stopped him in his tracks was the view. The stars were out in full force above the Mediterranean and the moon was high overhead, a thin sliver of silver reflecting on the waves.

“Oliver, this is so beautiful.”  
“A shower by starlight?”  
“Oh yes, I think so.”

Oliver set her down on her cool, marble floor and started the shower. Felicity sat on the stone bench by the window and looked out over the ocean. It was inky black and glittered with the reflection of a universe of stars. She had never seen anything so lovely, not in Bali or Thailand, and breathed a sigh of deep contentment.

Soon, the view was obscured by the rising steam of the multiple rainfall showerheads and Oliver was pulling her to her feet. This was one of the things she loved best, when they would spend time exploring each other under the healing power of the hot water.

Involuntarily she shivered as Oliver’s hands passed over her breasts, down her torso and between her legs. Her body was still humming from earlier and needed little encouragement to find its way back to that heightened state where she felt reborn. He followed her lead and, using his fingers and exercising more patience than she thought possible, he slowly pushed, cajoled and loved her back into a space of ecstasy.

“Oliver...oh God...don’t stop, please…”

She felt his lips on her neck and the heat of the water as it washed over them both and she pulsed and throbbed around his fingers as she came with force, clutching at his arms in order to keep herself upright. Oliver walked them back to the stone bench and cradled her in his lap, massaging her back as she slowly returned to herself.

A few minutes later, dried and warm, they stumbled back to the bed and crawled in. Felicity’s last waking moment was of listening to Oliver’s heart beat. It was her nightly lullaby and soon, as his breathing deepened and evened out, she let go and relaxed into a deep, easy sleep.

 

III

_Felicity opened her eyes and was almost relieved to see that she was back in the cabin with the old man. He was resting beside her, his eyes closed and hands clasped over his belly, breathing deep and easy in the afternoon sun. She was warm and comfortable on the couch and didn’t want to do anything to disturb him or ruin the moment._

_Turning her head so that she could peer out of the living room window, she watched a fawn cautiously emerge from the cottonwoods and walk on wobbly legs towards a patch of long, prairie grass. Its mother followed close behind it, keeping an eye on the surrounding prairie for predators and other potential threats._

_The only other animals she could see were buffalo, far in the distance, grazing peacefully near the forest edge by the butte. They must have been enormous because even though they were at least half a mile away, they were enormous. Felicity watched the herd move as one as the sun swept across the plains._

_Somewhere hidden in the forest, a wolf was howling and it sent shivers down her spine. Other wolves joined in and she felt the power of love and companionship being sung back and forth. They were trying to find each other through the song and it moved her. This entire place was magical and she wished it were real so she could come and stay forever._

_“You worry about the young buck, don’t you?” the old man asked gently._   
_“I do, yes, I do worry,” she said sadly as the last of the howling song died away._   
_“He seems strong, that one.”_   
_“He is but…,” her voice trailed away as tears welled up in her eyes._   
_“He has many mountains left to climb.”_   
_“But he needs to want to climb them. He needs...he needs to want to live.”_   
_“Come on,” the old man said as he got up, “I have a song I need to give you.”_   
_“A song?”_   
_“Yup. It is what you need to sing when you see him up there,” he said cryptically as he pointed to the large butte._   
_“See him? At the top or the bottom?”_   
_“That’s up to you,” he chuckled, “You’ll know when you get there.”_   
_“Ok, but just a warning, I can’t sing a note.”_   
_“You do fine. I just hope you can drum.”_   
_“Oh...I don’t know if I am able to do that…,” she teased._   
_“Let’s go. The walk is long and you have a lot to learn.”_   
_“Can’t we take a horse?”_   
_“Now why would you want that?” he asked with a small twinkle in his eyes._   
_“Don’t tease me, Old Man.”_

_Laughing, he picked up an old leather pack and ushered her out the door. Sure enough, there were two pinto horses waiting in a small paddock for them. The old man showed her how to saddle hers and helped her get up on its back. The horse was a gentle one and stood patiently as Felicity shifted and wiggled until she got comfortable in the saddle._

_The old man showed a tremendous amount of grace and strength as he saddled his pony and swung up on its back as though he were weightless. She watched him smile gently at the horse and then lean forward to whisper directly into its ear. The horse responded by shaking its head back and forth and snickered at him as though laughing at a joke._

_With a small clicking sound, the old man got his horse moving at a leisurely pace toward the butte. Felicity’s horse followed of its own volition. She had no idea how to actually ride a horse so she was grateful this one knew who to follow and where it was going._

_A few minutes into the ride, the Old Man handed her a drum and a wooden drum stick. Both were old, she could tell by their appearance that and condition. She experimentally hit the drum and the sound was deep, ancient and she felt the vibration travel up through her arm and into her body. It was like her entire body started to hum in harmony with the single beat of the drum._

_She looked over at the Old man in awe and wonder. He, in turn, was watching her carefully with a small smile on his face. She waited for the vibration to stop but it kept building in her blood until it shook her vision. That is when she saw what the world she was visiting looked like between the edges. It was like she could see between the layers of this world and the next._

_“You can see it,” he said, “Not many can.”_   
_“What is happening to me?”_   
_“You are getting ready for a journey. Come on, golden woman,” he urged, “We still have a song to sing.”_

_Felicity smiled. Everything was glowing or in dynamic motion. She wanted to stay here just like this for the rest of her time asleep. The air smelled of sun-baked earth, fresh water and ageless. She knew she was not in real time but she embraced the journey and was excited for the whatever was to come._

_“We’ll rest up by that stream,” said the old man, “I’ll teach you the song there. You’ll need to concentrate and you can’t do that on a horse.”_   
_“True. Is Oliver learning a song?” she asked._   
_“Oh no, he is learning how to listen,” he chuckled, “He asks too many questions and doesn’t listen to the answers.”_   
_“What do you mean? He usually listens to me.”_   
_“That’s because he loves you and knows in his heart that your advice guards his path.”_   
_“I am not his keeper,” she said with steel in her voice._   
_“Oh I know that,” he chuckled, “But without you, he would lose his way. That’s why he needs to learn how to listen more. He has his own answers that are going unheard.”_   
_“Is that because he is so ready to sacrifice his life for those he loves?”_   
_“That is part of it. He is marked deep inside,” the old man said and pointed at his chest to indicate where Oliver was marked, “He needs to be shook up. Like a storm.”_

_Felicity fell silent and watched the shadows of the sky sweep across the land. The butte was no closer now than when they were at the house, but the stream they came to was crystal clear and flowed over rocks with a gentleness that belied its strength. They dismounted and sat on its banks while the horses grazed in the meadow behind them._

_Idyllic was the word that spring to Felicity’s mind as she sat in the warm afternoon sun._

_“Ok, now we sing,” said the old man._   
_“Ok,” she smiled in agreement and everything disappeared into the bright morning light._


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be my favourite chapter to date in the story. Oliver and Felicity are still on the Isle of Capri, and while they spend a lot of time in bed at the front end of the chapter, they really begin to talk about what they are doing.
> 
> They have their first argument and it feels perfect. They are both so stubborn but writing it felt true to their characters.
> 
> Oliver once again re-enters his dream with the Old Man and Coyote and he is told a story. It's an important one that connects to part of Oliver he is hiding both from himself and from Felicity. This is a slow but emotional reveal.

**Chapter Seven**

_Fiery words and tender looks_   
_She is Life and Love_   
_And he worships at her feet._

I

Oliver felt Felicity stir beside him. She was mumbling in her sleep, talking in a low tone to someone and occasionally laughing at some unheard comment. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to wake up yet as the sun hadn’t even peeked over the distant horizon, and listened to the distant crashing of waves on the rocky shore below their bedroom. The breeze was gentle and cool so he pulled the blankets up over his shoulders and sought out the warmth of Felicity’s body.

She had stopped mumbling and grown still next to him. Even in her sleep, she pushed back into him, finding the spaces on his body that would welcome hers. Oliver snaked an arm over her waist and angled it up her body. She was so much smaller than he was that he could wrap his arms all the way around her. Felicity sighed as his hand cupped one of her breasts and she pressed her hips back into him. He felt his body stir in response and he nuzzled his face into her neck.

“MmmOliver...isn’t it a bit early?” she asked sleepily.  
“It’s never too early,” he whispered in her ear as he gently began to trail his hand down her torso.  
“I’m so sleepy,” she protested weakly.  
“We can sleep until noon.”  
“Promise?”  
“Just follow my lead,” he chuckled.

What followed was a moment he loved the most, when she would trust him by relaxing into his arms and allowing him to take the lead. His lips sought her neck as his hand pushed down her body, until he reached that warm cleft between her legs. With only a small bit of coaxing on his part, she moved just enough so that he could push his fingers through her already wet length, and stroke her clit until he heard her breathing deepen.

She covered his hand with hers and urged his towards a faster, deeper movement. He had wanted to move slowly but the way she was responding to his touch spurred him onto accelerated action. He was already dangerously hard and needed to feel her wrapped around his cock.

It was easy for him to lift her top leg up over his and rub his throbbing erection back and forth, feeling how ready she was for him. She moaned softly and pressed her back into his chest, trying to get as close as she could in that moment. Oliver tried to move his hand away but Felicity held it where it was, encouraging him to maintain the gentle pressure and circular movement he had started.

Pulling his hips back, Oliver found her entrance and slowly pushed into her, sliding in an inch at a time until he was buried deep within her body. He slowly released her leg, letting it back down so that it was back in its original position, then with deliberate intent, he slowly withdrew all the way out and then pushed back inside her. She gasped and pushed her hips back, trying to establish a rhythm but he kept up his gentle command of her body.

“Oliver…,” she murmured, “Please…”  
“God, Felicity,” he moaned into her neck, “You feel so good…”

She pushed back against him and he lost his self-control. Thrusting all the way inside her, he kept himself buried as deeply as he could and began to rock their bodies together so that he remained where he knew he could stroke a spot within her that would make her cry out in a matter of minutes.

“Oliver...oh my God...I...I love you.”  
“I love you…,” he answered as he felt her begin to shudder around him. She was slowly approaching her orgasm, he could feel her trying to stop its arrival but he pressed on, thrusting harder and deeper as she pulsed around him.

She released his hand and gripped his arm as she rocked her hips harder against him. Oliver could feel her breathing deepen even further as she tried to hold off the inevitable. He continued to massage her sensitive clit, breaking down her defenses and laying claim to her body as she arched against him.

“Don’t stop...oh...God, like that, Oliver…,” she cried out as slowly her body betrayed her and she came undone around him, clawing at his arm and crying out his name over and over.

Oliver lost the ability to speak, all he could feel was the heat of her, the silky smoothness of her as he pushed her through one orgasm and into another. He knew he didn’t have much longer that he could last but this wasn’t so much about taking his time when making love to Felicity. He couldn’t put his finger on it but this was about satisfying a deeper need, something elemental and chaotic. He would never harm her, but he had wanted her past all reason the moment he woke up and felt her beside him.

“Just like that, baby,” he groaned, “keep moving...oh God, just like that…”

The control shifted slightly between them and Felicity was able to take possession of his journey. She squeezed her top leg down and increased the pressure around his cock, holding him inside her as he began to thrust unevenly, losing all sense of control.

“God...keep doing that,” he gasped, “Keep...oh God…”

As another orgasm rolled through her body, Oliver finally felt himself swell and throb and then he came in a long, hot flood deep inside her. His mind went blank and all he knew was her. He felt fractured but fantastically alive and he loved her with all that he had within in.

“Oh God, Oliver,” she sighed softly, “You need to wake me up like that all the time.”  
“I love you, Felicity,” he said gently.  
“More than yesterday?” she teased.  
“Yup but not as much as I will tomorrow,” he teased right back.  
“Sap,” she mumbled as she fell back asleep.

Oliver reached beside the bed and picked up a towel he had dropped the night before. Carefully so as not to wake her, he cleaned them both up. She slept through it all creating such an intense moment of intimacy between them, that she trusted his touch enough to not wake up and question what he was doing that he found himself almost incapable of finishing his task. Pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, he wrapped himself around her and slipped off to sleep just as the sky began to shift in colour signalling the start of a new day.

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A few hours later, he felt a cool breeze blow over his body and reached for the covers. He was content to remain in bed for a few minutes more but hazarded a peek to find Felicity but she was no longer beside him. Furrowing his brow, he listened for her somewhere in the small villa. A small shuffling sound announced her reappearance into bedroom. She was gloriously naked and eating a peach.

Oliver smiled at her and the confidence she possessed as she wandered, almost languidly, back to the bed. She hadn’t seen that his eyes were open and that he was watching her with a look that bordered on the erotically obscene. She finished the peach and quietly threw away the pit in the trash in the washroom.

“Hey,” he said softly after she washed her hands.  
“Oh! Did I wake you?” she asked apologetically.  
“Nope.”  
“Well, maybe I could change that,” she said softly as she climbed under the covers on his side of the bed.  
He wasn’t sure what she was doing until she straddled his hips and sat up, “God, you are gorgeous.”  
“You think so?” she asked in a low, husky voice as she slowly started to rotate her hips against him.  
“Felicity,” he growled, “What time is it?”  
“A little after six,” she murmured as her eyes slowly dilated and her gaze shifted in and out of focus.  
“We can still sleep until noon?”  
“MmmHmm.”  
“I don’t know,” he said softly as he ran his hands up and down her body in an ever-changing pattern, “I might be too tired.”  
“Oh really?” she teased as she rubbed up and down his slowly hardening cock, “Are you sure about that?”

Oliver was momentarily speechless as his breathing shortened. She felt like hot, liquid satin against his skin. He gripped her hips, his hands were large enough to encompass her waist and he took advantage of that ability as she leaned back and allowed her head to fall towards his legs. Felicity was surprisingly muscular and flexible. The first time he discovered that about her had resulted in an afternoon locked away behind a locked hotel door and a lot of energy drinks. Now he was breathless as he watched her bend her body in a way he didn’t know was possible.

She guided his hands up to her breasts as she continued to slowly move her hips against him, her breathing getting shorter. His cock was hard, laying against his belly, and already slick from her as she continued to glide against him. The sun had just begun to rise and the room was filled with a dark golden light that was almost liquid the way it flowed around her. They were in a country that once, not all that long ago, had celebrated and worshipped Gods and Goddesses, and as she raised her body up and looked down on him all he could think was that she had come home.

Slowly, she lifted her hips, freeing him from between their bodies, and slowly eased back down him, inch by inch. He felt her sharp intake of breath as she buried him inside her. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. He loved the way it felt when she took control of him like this and he was more than happy to surrender. He continued his exploration of her body with his hands while she began a sinuous circular rhythm up and down his throbbing cock.

She didn’t simply mount and ride him, no, she insinuated her body against his, slowly undulating her hips against his in a series of building, mounting silken waves, each one immeasurably more powerful than the one before, she created an orchestra of rhythms and beats that pounded and surged through his body and soul like a tsunami racing headlong towards the shore.

“God, Felicity,” he panted, “you feel amazing.”  
“You say that all the time,” she murmured.  
“It’s true,” he moaned as she squeezed him gently, “God, how do you do that?”  
“Shhhh...just enjoy…”

Her rhythm picked up and he knew he had to slow her down. Reaching up, he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, and kissed her. He was greedy with his kiss, he sucked her bottom lip, her tongue, he kissed her so deeply she had to push herself away to catch her breath. He could feel her breath blowing hot across his face and her lips still tasted like the peach she eaten earlier.

The way she was thrusting and grinding against him slowed in speed as she looked deep into his eyes. The morning light reflected off of the green and gold flecks that swirled around her pupils, setting the blue of her irises off into shades of cobalt and sapphire. He loved her eyes and how they lit up when she smiled, or how they smoldered when she was angry, or how they swirled with life and power like they did now. It was like a galaxy in her eyes and he wanted nothing more than to stare into them for the rest of his life.

“Oliver,” she panted, “...soon…”  
“Just hold on…,” he smiled, “let me catch up.”

She smiled back at him and lowered her head so her forehead rested on his and closed her eyes. Oliver kissed her cheeks, her lips and moved to her neck, eliciting a low moan from her as he found the pulse point below her left ear. He moved his hips in time with hers and felt that familiar heat building low in his pelvis as it spread throughout his body.

Felicity pushed herself up, rose up over top of him, and laced their hands together. He watched her through half opened eyes as they both moved faster, with more purpose, and then he felt it. That sweet, tension deep inside, as her body pulsed around him and she flexed forward as her orgasm rolled through her like an earthquake.

“Oliver...oh god...don’t stop moving, don’t stop…,” she moaned.  
“Lean back…,” he murmured, “Yes, just...just like that.”

He could feel that she was still pulsing around him, lost in the fire in her blood, and let go. He stopped trying to control his body and he came in yet another long, hot flood inside her. Felicity laid down on him, kissing his neck, his cheeks, his mouth and then she said something she had said so many times on their journey together that now he listened for the variations in her tone of voice, this time she said it so softly he almost missed it.

“I love you, Oliver.”

And it was the loudest truth he had ever heard.

“We should get up,” he said quietly.  
“And do what?” she asked as she slowly rolled off of him, “Besides shower, that is.”  
“Let’s just grab some towels and go to the beach.”  
“What about our bathing suits?” she laughed.  
“There is absolutely no one within a mile of us. Just you, me and the water.”  
“Ok,” she said after a moment’s thought, “You get the towels and I’ll grab our watershoes.”  
“Deal.”

Oliver watched her get up and cross the room. She was gloriously beautiful in the nude, a sight he never thought he would see, and he smiled at her retreating back. Felicity was a woman of few inhibitions with him now and whenever she wandered around in the nude, he felt something close to being blessed.

“Are you coming? I don’t know how to get down to the beach!” she called.  
“Coming!” he called back as he grabbed the beach towels from the bathroom. The water would be cold most likely, so he grabbed their robes as well.

 

II

The steps that lead down to the small, rocky beach were cut from the rock of the cliff side. They were well used, with grooves worn into the centre of each step from the top to the bottom. Oliver helped Felicity down as they were tall and steep. He suspected that he would have to carry her back up because they might be too tall for her to climb. She would hate it but eventually relent because she absolutely hated climbing anything.

“Oliver, this water is freezing!” she exclaimed as she waded in.  
“It’s good for you! Think of it as a Mediterranean polar bear swim!” he teased as he joined her.  
“Just wait until you get in up to your waist,” she teased.  
“It’s not...that bad,” he said while trying desperately not to swear because it really was freezing.  
“You lie,” she laughed.  
“Oh God, this is cold.”

With a laugh, Felicity turned and dove under the surface of the cold water. Not to be outdone, Oliver joined her and immediately regretted his decision. The water was bracing, like the waters surrounding Lian Yu, but there was a hint of warmth under the layers of cold. Later in the day, the water would be warm and much more conducive to swimming and relaxing in. Right now, however, it was cold enough that he was ready to get out and head back up to the villa.

“Oliver?”  
“Yes,” he said as he swam over to her, seeking out her warm and supple body.  
“Can I ask you something?” she asked as she wound her arms around his neck.  
“You can ask me anything,” he murmured as he nuzzled her neck. He was safe from any kind of physical arousal at the moment, so he took full advantage of it to explore Felicity’s body in the water.  
“Promise not to get mad?”  
“Promise,” he said as he kissed her neck.  
“Have you thought about when we should go back home?”

Oliver froze. He hadn’t thought about it because all he wanted was to be with her. She was home. Not a city, not a state, not condo or mansion. He had found space within himself that accepted love, happiness and hope for a future with her. Thinking of returning to Star City caused him to stiffen and pull away from her. He saw confusion and hurt cross her face but he couldn’t stop himself. He swam away from her towards the shore and left the water.

“Oliver?” she called, confusion and hurt wrapped around each syllable of his name.  
“I’m sorry, Felicity,” he called back, “I...I’m just not ready to think about that yet.”  
“We are going to have to,” she said in her no nonsense tone of voice as she joined him, “If the legalities around Ray’s signing over of the company to me holds up, I will have to return stateside.”  
“But that isn’t now,” he said tightly, “When the time comes, we can talk about it and where to live but I...I can’t do it now.”

Felicity studied him as she dried herself. He couldn’t read her expression, which was unusual, but he got the feeling that he was about to get an earful from her. Regardless of what she was going to say, he wasn’t ready to go back and was ready to stand his ground against her. She was fearsome when she was angry but he know, from experience, that he could be as well.

“Oliver, home isn’t Italy, Bali, or Thailand. Home is Starling, it is with the people we love, with family, where our history is,” Felicity began calmly, “I know you and I know that you think I am somehow your home but...I’m not. You need to be near Thea and the rest of you family. They are buried back in Starling. My mom is back there...Diggle, Lyla and Sara. We can’t run forever.”  
“We aren’t running,” he said in a controlled voice.  
“We are,” she said gently, “We got into that Porsche and drove off into the sunset. We spent nights under the stars, in beach houses, villas and cottages. We have moved so quickly from one place to the next. We need roots, Oliver.”  
“Felicity,” he began, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice, “I can’t go back.”  
“What do you mean you can’t got back?”  
“I...I just can’t. I don’t want to be the Arrow ever again. I want a chance at a real life with you,” he said earnestly.  
“You can still have that,” she said slowly, “and not be living halfway around the world.”  
“Why can’t we try?” he demanded.  
“What would you do if something happened to Thea and we were somewhere the internet didn’t work? What would you do?”  
“Felicity, you aren’t understanding me,” he said with a shake of his head.  
“Oh really?” she said with some heat under the words.  
“Yes, really. If we go back, the expectation will be that I join the team again.”  
“Not necessarily,” she countered, “But...what about me? And Palmer Tech? Does what I do mean so little to you?”  
“Felicity,” he said warningly, “that isn’t fair.”  
“Maybe so, but you are thinking about yourself and not about me. I will need to go back the States whether you like it or not. It doesn’t mean I am going to want to stay in Starling OR rejoin the team. But I will have to go back,” she said hotly.  
“We can deal with that when we get to it,” he said somewhat dismissively. He was starting to get angry. She was pushing the idea that going back to Starling was inevitable and he simply didn’t agree.

Felicity was putting her robe on and starting back up the stairs. She was angry, that he could tell, but he wasn’t going to change his mind just because she was angry. He knew they could reach an agreement but before that could happen, he felt they actually needed to battle this out. It wasn’t their first argument, but it was technically their first as a couple. He was perversely looking forward to it, to see how they handled each other’s positions.

“Felicity, you are going to need my help getting back up. Let me-”  
“No, thank you, I am not a child, I can do this myself,” she said, cutting him off.  
“Ok,” he said, raising his hands in surrender as he went past her and up the stairs in front of her, “I’ll see you up in the villa.”  
“Fine,” she said in a flat voice.

Oliver, using his strength and agility, took the tall steps two at a time and made his way back inside to shower and change. It was still early, so he contemplated what he should make for breakfast. He wanted to finish the conversation first, if Felicity ever made it back up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later, showered, shaved and changed, he was in the small kitchen making coffee and laying out the ingredients for brunch, when Felicity finally came in. She was covered in dirt, sweating, and had scrapes on her knees. He felt a twinge of guilt but there was no way she would have accepted his help given how annoyed she was with him. She went straight into the bedroom, shut the door and headed into the shower.

Shaking his head, he got to work making brunch. It was a simple meal of sausages, local bacon, eggs and thick cut toast. He was starving and was contemplating not waiting for her when she finally came out, changed, showered and looking somewhat calmer.

“Oliver, we need to finish our conversation,” she said softly.  
“Ok,” he said simply.  
“Don’t you miss Thea?” she asked.  
“Of course I do!” he exclaimed, “But she is an adult who is choosing her own life, one that I can’t be a part of again.”  
“I’m not asking you to be part of that part of her life! I’m asking if you have thought about when we should go back home,” she said carefully.  
“I haven’t.”  
“Well, I think you need to.”  
“Why?” he asked in exasperation, “Why? What is there for us? You can be Palmer Tech’s CEO from anywhere in the world. We don’t need to go back to Starling.”  
“Ok. What about somewhere else? Like Ivy Town? Or even Gotham?”  
“I...I can’t.”  
“Can’t or won’t?” she asked pointedly.

Oliver looked at her, her eyes were smouldering and had turned a dark, stormy gray. She was frustrated, not angry, but her patience was wearing thin and he knew she would be upset with him soon enough. He could feel his own anger beginning to rise but was determined not to react that way. If she wanted a conversation he would have one.

“I won’t,” was all he said.  
“Why not?”  
“Because there is nothing there for me, Felicity. This,” he said emphatically, with a slap on the counter, “this is all I need. You are all I need. I don’t need to be there.”  
“I do,” she said quietly, almost sadly.  
“Why?”  
“Because this isn’t real life, Oliver,” she said earnestly, “This is a beautiful, gorgeous slice of paradise but it isn’t reality.”  
“Felicity,” he said shaking his head, “we can make our reality anywhere. You just need to want it. If I’m not the man you want to find that reality with, you need to figure that out.”

She sat back as though he pushed her. Silently, she got up and left the kitchen. He stood and listened to where she was going and heard the bedroom door softly close. He stood, staring blankly at the kitchen counter. With a heavy sigh, he finished making breakfast, ate some of it and then wandered out to the small herb garden.

It smelled like basil, oregano and rosemary. The lemon trees that were growing on the other side of the tall stone wall added to the flavour of the air and he soon found himself relaxed and it dawned on him just what question Felicity was really asking him. It wasn’t if he wanted to go back to Starling, she knew that he didn’t, but if he was ready to commit to her.

And he had messed up his answer in spectacular Oliver Queen fashion, that he knew without question. If she had just asked it, they wouldn’t be in separate spaces in a villa that he had rented out of love and adventure. Slapping his hands against his thighs in frustration, Oliver turned on his heel and headed back inside.

Picking up her breakfast, he made his way to their bedroom. Out of respect, he knocked softly and waited for her to answer.

“Come in,” came her soft reply.  
“I brought you breakfast,” he said as he entered.

She had pulled all the blinds and was sitting on the bed, huddled up against the headboard, her legs pulled up to her chest. He couldn’t see her very clearly, but he felt the sadness in the room and knew if he could see her face it would be stained with tears.

“Thank you,” she said quietly as he put the plate on the bedside table closest to her.  
“You’re welcome,” he said as he handed her a mug of coffee. He opted to sit directly next to her so that she couldn’t avoid him, “Felicity, you should have asked me the real question.”  
“What do you mean?” she asked around a mouthful of toast.  
“You weren’t asking me if I wanted to return home, you were really asking me if i would commit to going home with you. The question was about us not Starling.”  
“Maybe.”  
“Felicity…”  
“Ok, maybe it was but...I didn’t want to push you too hard,” she said apologetically.  
“I’m sorry for what I said in the kitchen,” he said softly, “That wasn’t fair of me to say to you after all we’ve been through together.”  
“I’m sorry, too,” she said with a soft smile.  
“I know we should talk about it going back.”  
“Yup, we should.”  
“Just not now,” he said gently, “Let’s just enjoy the grottos and the isolation.”  
“What do you really have in mind?” she asked as she finished her breakfast.  
“A nap, to be honest. You have exhausted me.”  
“Let’s nap then,” she laughed.  
“Felicity?” he asked as he climbed onto the bed next to her.  
“Hmm?” she hummed in response.  
“You know that I love you, right? No matter what?”

Felicity didn’t respond. She turned to face him and took his face in her small hands. Oliver felt the power in her gaze and lost himself to it. Her eyes were a marvel and not one he could look away from with any kind of ease. He felt her thumbs trace his lips a split second before she leaned in to kiss him with a gentleness that took his breath away.

“Of course I do,” she murmured as she pulled away from him, “Now let’s get some sleep.”

Oliver pulled the blanket over them, waited for her to nestle into his side, and fell into an easy sleep.

 

 

III

_He opened his eyes and saw the Old Man patiently looking at him from the comfort of his ancient, wooden rocking chair. Oliver looked around and saw that it was still midday but there were clouds overhead, the enormous cumulus clouds that Felicity had pointed out so rarely happen above Starling. They were pure white and moving slowly across a brilliant blue sky._

_“You’ve come back,” the Old Man chuckled, “I thought maybe the Golden Woman had claimed you again.”_   
_“She doesn’t have to claim me,” Oliver murmured._   
_“Huh, it’s like that already?”_   
_“What do you mean?”_   
_“She has her fingers in your soul,” he said with a smile, “Come on. Coyote is already halfway up the ridge.”_   
_“What about Deer Woman?” Oliver asked as he got up and stretched._   
_“She goes where she needs to go,” the OId Man said as his made his way over to his paddock._   
_“Are we riding horses to the butte?”_   
_“You ask too many questions. Which horse do you want to ride?” he asked._

_Oliver had a look at the horses that were tied up to the hitching post under the large dogwood tree. He looked over the red roan, the large grey roan, and strongly built pinto but the horse that captured his attention was the painted buck. He was spirited but confident, and his coat was glossy, a deep black with white painted patches on his hind quarters and face. Oliver didn’t even have to point, the Old Man snorted a laugh and threw a saddle over his horse._

_“You and your woman have the same kind of taste in horses,” he said._   
_“Felicity likes painted roans?”_   
_“Yeah, she does,” he said as he saddled his own horse, the sturdy pinto, “She rides like a pro, too. You done good getting her to put up with you.”_

_Oliver laughed at the Old Man as they mounted up and made their way down an old path and out across the prairie. The day was warm but the constant flow of air across the tall grasses kept him cool as they rode for what felt like hours. As they made their way down an overgrown path, Oliver heard the sound of running water and songbirds. Rounding a corner and through a copse of trees, they came upon a stream. The Old Man dismounted his horse, motioning Oliver to do the same, and lead his ride to the water to drink._

_“Let’s rest a minute here,” he said to Oliver, “Let the horses rest before we continue on.”_   
_“How much further do we have to go?”_   
_“Not far, but far enough,” the old man chuckled._   
_“You love to speak in riddles, now don’t you?” Oliver laughed._   
_“And you like to ask too many questions, you need to listen.”_   
_“To what?”_   
_“You’ll know it when you hear it.”_

_Exasperated, Oliver threw his hands up into the air and tied his horse up to a low hanging branch deep in the shade of cottonwood tree. It was cool under here and there was plenty of grass for the horse to eat. He reached into the saddle bag and found an apple that he then offered to his mount, who delicately took it from his hand. Oliver laid his hand against the side of the horse’s neck and silently thanked him for the easy ride._

_“Come over and sit, young buck,” the old man called, “I have a story you need to hear before you go up that butte.”_   
_“You know, you could call me by my name,” Oliver said as he lowered himself down onto the soft earth under a cottonwood tree._   
_“Nah,” chuckled the old man, “You’re name might change and I’d have to learn it all over again.”_   
_“What does that mean?”_   
_“More questions! Your Golden Woman is sure patient. She listens. You need to learn from her.”_   
_“She doesn’t ask any questions?”_

_The Old Man turned and looked at him with a look of disbelief on his face. Oliver quickly stopped talking and sat staring out at the stream and watched how the sun glittered across it’s surface. It was a quick moving one and occasionally he saw a fish leap free and flash in rainbow patterned scales in the sun._

_“I’m going to tell you a story. Maybe give you some insight into your Golden Woman and what you need to listen for.”_   
_“I listen to Felicity,” Oliver said defensively._   
_“You do, you do,” the Old Man said while nodding, “But you don’t hear her until it’s too late.”_   
_“Ok...so what’s this story?”_   
_“Sit back and watch the clouds. You’ll understand why, don’t ask me any questions until it’s over.”_

_Oliver chuckled and laid back to watch the sky. The clouds rose so high into the atmosphere that they dwarfed even the largest structures on earth. He found it calming to watch the changing shapes and sizes as they merged and split apart._

_“That woman, she has the heart of a warrior,” the Old Man began, “She reminds me of Brave Woman, Winyan Ohitika is what I called her. She was a warrior but wise. A leader. She could see that her people needed help against the Crow Nation but she knew that the man she loved, Little Eagle,or Wanblee Cikala as I knew him,” he said as he rubbed some leaves together, releasing a fragrant, smoky scent, “she knew he was brave enough to fight all other Nations to keep her and all his people safe.”_

_Oliver looked over at the Old Man and watched him as he chewed on one of the leaves. He was in no hurry to get this story out but Oliver was starting to listen differently, he was hearing the words the Old Man wasn’t saying. Not that the story was about him and Felicity, but that he wasn’t seeing Felicity’s bravery, not the truth of it. He returned his gaze to the sky and waited for the story to continue._

_“So one day, as the Crow Nation attacked, Brave Woman remained on the sidelines, encouraging those men who would pick up the bow and lance. She was the one woman all the warriors looked to and listened to,” he said with fondness, “She was braver than any man out there, fighting to the death. So as she watched her Nation’s men fall, one by one, she got herself up on horse, a painted one like yours.”_

_He paused and looked over at Oliver, half expecting him to ask a question but Oliver remained silent. He was intent on not interrupting the Old Man as he told him the story. Instead he watched the sky, spotting an eagle circling high overhead, circling on the hot updrafts that rose up from the Plains._

_“She rode out and counted coup and all the men, on both sides mind you,” he continued with a smile, “they watched her in awe. No one attacked her. No one questioned her. They understood that she was the Warrior Hero of the Great Lakota Nation, the Oceti Sakowin. So she was untouched by the Crow and the Lakota rallied behind her.”_

_Oliver waited._

_“You are learning young buck, you are learning,” he chuckled, “Anyways, she did all that to protect the man she loved from dying. She rode out onto that field and made sure her Nation, her people, won.”_

_“Did Little Eagle die?” Oliver asked quietly._   
_“Yes,” the Old Man said quietly, “And after he was returned to the four corners, she spent the rest of her life as his widow. She never married or had children but she was the leader all the men followed.”_   
_“That sounds like a lonely existence.”_   
_“It was but it meant more to her to honour the memory of Little Eagle than to betray the love that was between them. If only he had wanted to live…,” the Old Man’s voice trailed off, “Anyways, let’s get going. The sun won’t stay up forever.”_   
_“Is that it? For the story?”_   
_“Maybe. Or you might hear more on top of that butte.”_   
_“I am going to hear more, aren’t I?”_   
_“Well, I guess you’ll find out. Now mount up.”_

_Oliver shook his head in amusement at the Old Man’s cryptic reply but he crossed the small clearing and unhitched his horse from the tree. Swinging up and over the back of his black and white painted pony, he gave him a little nudge and trotted after the Old Man._

_Gradually, the butte grew larger and larger in front of them. Oliver looked up it’s weathered sides and saw the bear claw marks that ran down its sides. His horse snorted, drawing his attention back to the path, and slowly he fell into empty darkness._


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an interesting look into Felicity's state of mind at the front end of their relationship. She has moments of confusion with Oliver and how he reacts to certain things she takes for granted, she has moments of insecurity with Oliver and his still very real reactions of slipping into a quiet, closed off world.
> 
> But the one place where they communicate perfectly and with naked, vulnerable honesty is through sex. Their physical, sexual vocabulary is insatiably perfect.
> 
> Felicity finally get the song that Oliver needs to hear at the top of the butte and something else just as special. This dream is slowly taking them to each other. The Old Man leaves them to it.
> 
> I have included a link to the version of the song I decided to use. I don't have a recording of the song I know (as it is from ceremony) but this one comes really close. It is BEAUTIFUL.

Chapter Eight

 

_Effervescent water_   
_Runs like electricity across their skin_   
_Igniting their world._

I

Felicity awoke to the sound of Oliver’s quiet laugh. He was still asleep so whatever he was dreaming about must be good and for that she was glad. His dreams had for too long been filled with violence, carnage and mayhem, so a reprieve like this was such a relief. She laid her head on his chest just to hear the calm beating of his heart and then quietly got up.

It was almost lunch time and she was starting to get more than a little hungry and she knew Oliver had something planned for them all afternoon. She had to smile at the thoughtfulness he was showing in planning all these little surprises for her. Resolving to not question him too closely about the rest of the trip, she quietly got dressed and ready to go.

“Leave the bikini on,” he muttered sleepily.  
“Are we going to a beach?”  
“Nope.”  
“Then why the bikini?”  
“You ask too many questions,” he laughed as he sat up and stretched.  
“I’m curious!”  
“Let me get up and make us some lunch and then we’ll be off.”  
“Ok,” she sighed in resignation.  
“I’m not taking us anywhere bad, I just want you to be surprised.”

Felicity felt a twinge of guilt and crossed to his side of the bed. Taking his face in hands, she looked at him. The shape of his mouth, the way he had crow’s feet starting at the corners of his eyes and the gentle slope of his nose. He was battle hardened but here with her, he looked young, refreshed and achingly alive.

“Don’t worry, I won’t spoil your surprise,” she said softly, “I’ll go anywhere with you.”  
TThen she kissed him, soft and sweet, and when she looked at him again, his eyes were shining.

“Ok, let’s get a move on,” he said quietly.  
“I’m starving. What’s for lunch?”  
“A ciabatta sandwich and maybe something sweet.”  
“Hurry up, Queen,” she said as she grabbed her sandals, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

Lunch was delicious, of course, and Oliver had some chocolate for her that he gave her in the car. The trip was a short one, all the way to the end of the road on their part of the island, but the treat was perfect. She made sure to note the name on the package because she would be bringing back several bars with her when they went home.

Home, she thought with a tinge of sadness, we are still so far away from home.

Oliver pulled the car into a small parking lot that overlooked a small pier and dock. There were a few old boats in slips and a few old men sitting in deck chairs with small cans of beer, talking and laughing and enjoying the warm noon temperature in the shade.

The breeze that was blowing in from the over the ocean was cool and refreshing. Felicity looked around at where they were and then glanced at Oliver. He had a faraway look on his face as he stared out over the open water. He wasn’t one for small boats, so she wasn’t sure where he was taking her. Wherever it was, it was pushing his mind far away and that was something that secretly terrified her. She sometimes thought he might retreat back to the Lian Yu and leave her, abandon her, to live as the man he was instead of the man she knew deep down he could be.

“So where are we going from here?” she asked quietly, running her fingertips up his arm as a way to ground him in the moment.  
“See those steps that lead down to the shore?”  
“Yup.”  
“That’s where.”  
“To another beach?”  
“Felicity!” he exclaimed with a laugh, “Just come with me.”  
“Ok, ok!” she smiled.

And with that, she fell into step behind him as they made their way down to the dock, past the resting men, and then down the stairs to the beach. Reaching back to take her hand, Oliver guided her across the rocky shoreline, around a large boulder and into the quiet seclusion of a small lagoon. The water was calm and the same deep, reflective blue as his eyes.

“Come here,” he said softly, pulling her into his side, “Do you see it?”  
“See what?” she asked as she looked around the small lagoon. Oliver remained silent and just motioned with his eyes towards the far side of the rocky cliff face.

“Do you see it?” he repeated patiently.  
Felicity was about to say no, when she saw what it was he was showing her. There was an opening in stone wall they were across from that was maybe as tall as Oliver and twice as wide.

“Wait...this isn’t grotto Azzurra,” Felicity said, “How did you know about this one?”

Without saying another word, Oliver took off his sandals and shirt and put them in his waterproof bag. She took his cue and got undressed and put her sandals and dress in the bag with his clothes. Then, taking her hand, he lead her into the water and into the opening in the wall.

What greeted her eyes was water that glowed with a luminescence that took her breath away. Whatever was creating the effect was actually lighting up the space inside the grotto. Felicity breathed out her amazement and waded further into the bright blue water.

“Oliver, this is beautiful.”  
“I thought you’d like it.”  
“How long can we stay?”  
“For about another twenty minutes, I bought us a block of time.”

Felicity turned to look at him as she leisurely swam to the centre of the cavernous space. Their voice, though held low in quiet whispers echoed up off the water to the ceiling high overhead. The water wasn’t deep at the moment but she could detect the high tide mark and knew they couldn’t stay for long.

Oliver just stayed near the entrance and watched her with a smile playing softly across his face. Felicity dove under the surface of the soft, slightly effervescent water and reveled in the experience. He was giving her this moment before sharing in it. When she came up for air, he was slowly wading in to join her.

Swimming up to him, Felicity wrapped herself around him. Since he was able to stand up, she used him to keep herself above the calm water. For a few minutes, they simply stood in a tight embrace, each resting their heads on the other’s shoulders. With her eyes close, Felicity listened to the water’s soft sounds and Oliver’s steady breathing.

“Felicity, if I could, I would give you the world.”

Turning her head, Felicity kissed his neck before searching for his mouth. The kiss they shared wasn’t a tentative one. His tongue sought hers and they sank into each other, body and soul. Oliver was gripping her hips, pulling her into him as the water buffeted them against one another.

“MmmOliver,” she moaned quietly as she broke away to catch her breath, “We should stop.”  
“Do you want to go?”he asked in a low, deep voice.  
“No…,” she breathed as his lips found the pulse point under her left ear. Her hips moved against his of their own accord until she felt his body begin to respond.  
“Here?” he asked quietly.

Felicity didn’t say anything. She leaned back just enough so that she could look at Oliver’s face. His eyes were hooded and darkened with desire, his lips were parted and his face slightly flushed. He was beautiful in the blue light. She loved this man, this impossibly strong, kind hearted man who loved her with a tenderness that defied all description.

Instead of a verbal answer, she traced the shape of his face with her fingertips, and nodded. She didn’t trust her voice in this private, luminescent chamber. The water was warm and neither one of them was wanting to leave it. She moved with purpose against him and he leaned forward to capture her lips with his. The kiss was greedy, full of lust and passion, the kind that spelled out surrender with each passing second.

“Hold onto me tight,” he whispered against her lips as he moved her bikini bottoms out the way of his probing fingers. She gasped as the intensity of his touch in the grotto’s waters.  
“God, Oliver…,” she breathed into his neck.  
“This water…,” he murmured.

Felicity reached between them and freed his hard cock from his swim trunks. He hissed out a breath as she lightly stroked the shaft. He felt so heavy and solid in her hand, at once familiar and exciting. His lips latched onto hers and everything fell away except for him, the way he tasted like the ocean and the pressure of his hands on her hips.

With practiced ease, she guided him to her entrance and slowly allowed him to push into her. They both gasped at the sensation as he buried himself in her, holding her still against him and together they breathed through the intensity of how their bodies connected skin on skin. Oliver moved to slightly deeper water and allowed the buoyancy of their bodies in the clear blue water to create a rhythm, one where neither of them had to move, they simply let ocean move them.

Felicity hummed into their kiss and Oliver tightened his grip on her hips. It was impossible for them to move the way they wanted to, so she got creative and squeezed her inner thighs around him, a pulsing motion that cause him to groan in ecstasy. He pulled back his head to try and look her in the eyes but she squeezed down hard around him and his eyes closed at the sensation.

“Oliver,” she whispered in his ears, “Hold me tight.”  
“In a totally non-platonic way, I hope.”  
“There is no other way,” she smiled.

With his arms wrapped firmly around her, Felicity moved her hips in a circular, grinding motion. Oliver buried his face in her neck and groaned as the intensity of the sensation of her body enveloped his cock. She didn’t thrust like she wanted to, she just kept up the steady grinding motion until she felt the beginning of a gentle, persistent throbbing and the spreading heat in her pelvis.

“Oliver...I’m so close…,” she whispered in a ragged voice. The grotto echoed her words in a muffled song.  
“Hold on…,” Oliver panted, “Hold on...keep, keep moving your hips like that...”

Felicity focused on the undulating tension building in her body as she felt him swell and throb deep inside her. She gripped his shoulders, buried her face in his neck and let her orgasm race through her body in a series of rumbling shudders that rocked her against Oliver.

“God,” she murmured as another one began to build, “You feel so good inside me, Oliver, just so good…”

And then she felt it. That soft moment when his breathing would pause, his hold on her increased and his body would freeze. His hips jerked against hers and he gasped into her neck. She pressed down on his now throbbing cock as he came deep inside her and she came again with a soft cry that echoed around them.

“Oh God, Felicity…,” he moaned softly, “How was that even possible?”  
“You have the magic tongue…,” she teased.  
“And you have magic thighs,” he sighed.  
“I’m glad that we are in water to keep us upright,” she murmured against his lips, kissing him tenderly as the water calmed around them.  
“I’m so glad we came here,” he smiled.  
“Me, too,” she smiled back just as his watch alarm went off.  
“Time to go.”  
“Oliver,” she said before releasing him, “I love all of this, the grotto, the cottage...but we could be camped out in Antarctica and I would still be happy because I am with you.”  
“Keep talking like that, Smoak, and I might love you forever.”  
“You better,” she grinned.

Oliver walked them to shallower waters and let her down so he could pull up his trunks and she could make sure she was covered properly. The water washed them clean and taking one last look at the cathedral like space, glowing a cool blue, and exited to rejoin the world.

Their walk back up to the car took them past the reclining old men, who gave them knowing looks and one of them winked at Felicity who blushed furiously as Oliver chuckled. She gave him a quick pinch but joined in the teasing with a wink back at the older man. Laughter followed them all the way to their car.

“So dinner…,” she hinted.  
“It’s only,” he paused to look at his watch, “3 pm!”  
“So snack…?”  
“Ok, a snack,” he laughed as he went to the trunk and produced a cooler.  
“Oliver Queen...you keep this up and I’ll love you forever,” she sighed.  
“I should hope so,” he smiled gently before sweeping her up off her feet so he could kiss her soundly.  
“Oliver!” she laughed, “Put me down so I can raid the cooler.”  
“Here,” he said with a flourish, “A bit of fresh bread with some antipasto and some water.”  
“You made the antipasto didn’t you?”  
“I did.”  
“You are amazing, Oliver, just amazing,” she said as she dug in.  
“So what should we do tonight?”  
“Let’s drink that wine.”  
“Which bottle?”  
“Doesn’t matter. And have some limoncello!”  
“Getting wild, Smoak.”  
“Well, we don’t have to…”  
“Oh, we have to.”  
“We should have another nap, too.”  
“I insist on it.”  
“Shall we go?” she asked softly as she pulled him into a comfortable embrace.  
“Yeah,” he murmured, “Let’s go.”

The drive was a quick one and soon they stumbled into the villa. Felicity took off her bikini and hung it to dry while Oliver changed out of his trunks into a pair of shorts. She waited in the bedroom door, watching him move in the kitchen as he cleaned up the cooler. His muscles rippled in the late afternoon sun. She swore she could see messages written on his skin where scars overlapped. He was no longer self-conscious about the damage on his skin and she loved the feel of the seams under her fingertips.

“Come on,” she called softly, “let’s nap on the couch.”  
“Will it fit us both?”  
“Let’s find out.”  
“Will we survive the contact?”  
“Let’s find out,” he teased as he laid down on the long couch.

Felicity laughed as she stretched out in front of him, pulling the light blanket over them. Oliver looped one arm around her, pulling her close and was asleep within a few minutes. Listening to his steady, sonorous breathing, Felicity gently rubbed the back of his hand and slowly joined him in an easy, dreamless slumber.

 

II

“Hey,” Oliver’s voice tumbled through her subconscious, pulling her back to the world, “wake up, love, it’s late.”  
“Mmmm but I’m so cozy.”  
“I’m starving,” he laughed.  
“Ok, ok,” she yawned, “What are we having?”  
“You’ll see,” he said quietly as he climbed over her and off the couch, “Just stay here and watch the sunset.”

“Sunset? What time is it?”  
“After seven.”  
“Oh man, we are never going to sleep tonight,” she said with a shake of her head.  
“Oh I think we’ll be fine,” he called from the kitchen.

Felicity laughed and sat back to watch the sky change colour and tone as the sun sank below the lip of the world. Facing the west provided them a spectacular view of the ocean and slowly, as she watched, the universe revealed itself to her. An arm of the Milky Way was a faint white smudge that divided the sky in half.

She listened to Oliver in the kitchen, humming quietly to himself as he cut vegetables and sauteed something on the stove. The small cottage filled with the aroma of chicken, rosemary and basil. Felicity stretched, got up and went into the kitchen to help.

“Ok, what can I do?” she asked.  
“Set the table?”  
“What?” she said in mock horror, “You don’t want me to cook anything?”

She laughed as Oliver froze mid slice on a shallot. Quickly, she sidled up next to him, planted a kiss on his cheek and moved to look for cutlery and plates when she suddenly had an idea. While Oliver was busy sauteeing shallots and chicken in what looked like butter, she slipped outside and set the small table in the herb garden. She had looked through the bougainvillia and wisteria vines and found tiny strands of outdoor lights which when turned on drenched the tiny, fragrant garden in a soft, warm white light.

With the table set, Felicity rummaged around in a cabinet in the living room and found a small vase. Taking it into the master bath, she filled it with water and then went to cut roses from the planter boxes on the balcony. Satisfied, she went through the kitchen and out into the garden. With a small happy nod, she found the plugs for the lights and plugged them in.

“You’re a crafty one, Smoak,” Oliver said quietly from the open french doors.  
“You like?”  
“I love.”  
“Dinner ready?” she smiled.  
“Yup, come get the wine?”  
“Um, yes, please!” she laughed as she made her way to the door. Oliver stayed where he was standing, framed by the bright light from the kitchen, and instead of letting her pass, he gathered her to him in a gentle hug.  
“What’s this for?” she asked softly, looking up at him.  
“No reason,” he murmured as he leaned down to gently kiss her, “Felicity?”  
“Hmmm?” she hummed in contentment.  
“You aren’t wearing anything under your dress are you?”  
“Not a single thing,” she said with a sly smile on her face.  
“We’re going to sleep just fine tonight,” he said in that low growling voice he used as the Arrow.  
“Let’s have dinner first,” she laughed.

Oliver ran his hands down her back over the swell of her hips and back up. She felt a shiver race after his touch and something elemental and ancient stirred in her blood. It took effort, but she pushed off of his chest and went inside to get the wine. Oliver watched her walk away, she could feel his eyes on her the short walk from the door to the fridge.

No underwear or bra was the dangerously right choice, she thought while she opened the bottle of chilled white wine and brought it out to the table as Oliver set down their plates. He had made a small masterpiece for them to eat in approximately one hour. It smelled heavenly and she couldn’t wait to dig in.

“I have to thank you for avoiding fish in everything,” she said happily as he poured them wine.  
“Well, I know how you feel about all things from the sea,” he chuckled.  
“Still, it must be hard to find poultry out here.”  
“It...wasn’t easy. But this is free range and delicious.”

It really was, she thought as she finished her Caprese salad and then took a bite of the pasta dish he had created. She looked up at him in surprise and smiled as she chewed.

“This is the best pasta I have ever had. Seriously, Oliver, this is beyond delicious.”  
“You are good for my culinary ego,” he chuckled.  
“You are terrible for my waistline,” she mused wistfully as she took another bite of the buttery chicken, tomato, basil pasta. The wine went down easy and soon they were laughing and searching for a second bottle.

“Oliver,” she said slowly, “we should slow down.”  
“We should...hang on,” he said as he got unsteadily to his feet and went inside the cottage.

Felicity felt a huge grin spread across her face. She’d been happy in relationships before, but nothing like this. This was bliss. Pure bliss.

“Here we go,” Oliver said as he set a small bottle of limoncello on the table, along with two tumblers full of ice, “Dessert!”  
“Just the alcohol?” she laughed.  
“Oh shit, one more sec!” Oliver laughed as he quickly went into the kitchen. He returned with a lemon mint sorbet in a small pint with two spoons.  
“Oh you are...the best,” she sighed in pure happiness.  
“It’ll melt, so dig in.”

Between spoonfuls of the delicious local sorbet and sips of the limoncello, they talked about what to do next, what grotto to visit, which market and if they ate out, where would they go and if they should stay an extra couple of days. So far, she was loving the Isle and how remote it felt.

But then, without thinking, Felicity said the exact wrong thing.

“I’m going to miss this place when I go back to work,” she said wistfully.  
“What do you mean?” he asked carefully.  
“Well, I’m just saying that eventually I am going to have to return to work at Palmer Tech.”  
“Palmer. Tech.”  
“Yes, you remember I am the CEO, right?” she chuckled as she finished her glass of limoncello. As she gazed up at the starry sky, she failed to see the shift in OIiver’s demeanor.  
“I thought we were past this conversation,” he said shortly.  
“What conversation?” she asked in genuine confusion.  
“About us returning anywhere.”  
“Oliver, I’m just acknowledging that I will be returning to work. Not to where Palmer Tech is although eventually, I will have to.”

Oliver sat stony faced for a moment and then got up and cleared the table of every dish, plate, glass and piece of cutlery, leaving Felicity with an almost empty bottle of limoncello and her glass. She watched him go in genuine confusion. Was he thinking she meant return to the States? To Starling? Why was he so angry?

When he made no move to rejoin her, she unplugged the lights, picked up the bottle and went inside. He had his back to her as he washed the dishes but the way he was standing, she knew he was angry. For what reason, at present, she had no idea but could feel the rising heat of her own temper.

“Why are you so angry?” she demanded as she poured herself a large glass of water. She was still tipsy and wanted to try and be sober for this conversation.  
“Because you know how I feel about going back and you brought it up again.”  
“I talked about going back to work not back to anywhere specific.”  
“But eventually, that is what will happen,” he said quietly, in a controlled voice.  
“Yes, you are right, eventually I will have to return...but not to Starling.”  
“Do you think that is a selling point?”  
“Oliver…”  
“Felicity, I need to clean this up.”

Rebuked completely, Felicity left the kitchen before he could see the tears that sprung to her eyes. She needed a shower anyways, so she quickly headed to the bathroom and opted to pour herself a bubble bath. It would keep Oliver out of her hair for a while and she could light a candle or two and relax.

The tub was a modern marvel in this almost ancient villa. It was the kind that allowed water to spill over the sides and into a built in drain that ran all the way around it. It was polished stone and held the water’s heat in an insulated glove that surrounded her. She floated in the tub, thought about how it was clearly built for two, and let the tears flow.

Reclining in the hot, sudsy water, Felicity failed to hear the bathroom open or Oliver quietly enter the room. She heard the rustle of clothing and opened her eyes to see Oliver taking his shirt off.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice thick with emotion.  
“I’m getting into the tub with you,” he said as he took off his shorts and underwear.  
“Oliver…,” she weakly protested.  
“Nope, I’m getting in,” he said quickly and got in the tub and carefully sat down facing her.  
“Ok,” she shrugged. She looked out the window at the ocean and the vast, star filled sky mirrored on its surface.  
“Felicity, look at me.”  
“Why?” she asked almost petulantly.  
“Felicity.”  
“What?” she asked as she looked through the scented steam at him.  
“I am so sorry,” he said softly, “I...I got fixated on one word and I failed to really listen. I am just so sorry I ruined your evening.”  
“Oliver,” she began quietly, “You haven’t ruined my evening. You ruined my buzz but not the evening.”

Oliver reached out for her hand and she instinctively reached back. They wouldn’t always get along, she thought, but they would have to figure out how to work through the rough patches together.

“I...I think I let my self-doubt’s voice be louder than my common sense’s voice,” he said sadly.  
“You have to learn to trust me, Oliver.”  
“I know. I do, I just don’t trust myself.”  
“You need to learn how to do that, too,” she said as she pulled him to her. He moved across the tub and turned so that his head came to rest on her shoulder. Quietly, they both turned to watch the stars dance across the surface of the ocean.  
“This is an amazing tub,” he commented, “The water hasn’t cooled since I got in.”  
“I knew you’d love it,” she said quietly as she kissed the top of his head.  
“Felicity, I’ll make you a deal.”  
“About what?” she asked softly.  
“Going home.”  
“Oliver…”  
“No, I’m serious. Hear me out,” he said quickly, “How about we stay in Italy for another 4 weeks and then, say, move to Ivy Town?”  
“Ivy Town?”  
“It’s close enough to Starling that you can go in to Palmer Tech and far enough away that I won’t have the guilt of not being the Arrow.”  
“You would be happy in Ivy Town?” she asked dubiously.  
“I’ll be happy so long as no one but you is chasing after me,” he said as he kissed her hands.  
“How about we revisit this again in four weeks? See how we are doing then?”  
“Ok. Deal.”  
“Ok, let’s get out. I think we are both pruning,” she chuckled.

Oliver got up and stepped out of the tub. His skin, now so tanned and smooth, glowed in the light of the single candle she had lit. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him move, almost stealthily, across the bathroom to get the large bath towels. The way the water travelled down his body stirred an elemental fire in her blood.

“Come on,” he coaxed, “These towels are amazingly soft.”  
“You are going to smell like roses now,” she laughed as she got up and out of the tub.  
“No one is going to know,” he smiled as he wrapped one of the towels around her and slowly rubbed her dry.  
“You are right, these towels are soft,” she said in a low voice.  
“Mmmhmm,” he hummed.

Felicity could feel the electric current between them spark but she wasn’t ready to indulge in the connection just yet. He had apologized but she had one more thing she needed to clear the air about. Picking up her thin nightgown and slipping it over her head, she wandered out into the bedroom as Oliver finished drying off and putting on his briefs.

She went out onto the balcony and waited. It was chilly but her skin was steaming from the hot bath and the cool air felt invigorating. She watched a meteor streak across the sky, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. With a smile, she closed her eyes and made a wish upon it, like when she was a little girl. If only one thing came true tonight, she thought, it will be that we go to bed happy.

“Felicity?”Oliver called softly.  
“Hey,” she said as she came back in the bedroom, carrying the crisp, cool air with her on her skin.  
“You’re cold,” he said as he welcomed her into his arms. He slowly ran his hands over her arms, back and sides.  
“It felt good. The air that is,” she murmured, “Oliver?”  
“Hmmm?”  
“Promise me that whenever we fight or argue, that you won’t turn your back on me. That you’ll talk to me.”  
“Did your mom and dad fight like that?”  
“When they weren’t yelling at one another.”  
“Hey,” he said, “Look at me.”  
“What?” she asked as she looked up at him, with her chin resting on his chest.  
“I promise.”  
“Thank you,” she whispered as Oliver cradled her face in his hands.  
“I don’t know what I would do without you, Felicity Smoak.”  
“Me, neither,” she said with a wink.

Oliver was laughing as he pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. She felt that primal surge again and gripped his arms. The way he sucked her bottom lip and the gentle sweep of his tongue inside her mouth warmed her body. She pressed into him and felt his body stir in response.

“Climb up on the bed,” he whispered.  
“Magic word?”  
“Please?” he smiled as he kissed her neck, hovering above her pulse point until her breath grew deeper and she moved her hips against his, “Now, please?”

Laughing, Felicity climbed up on the bed, as asked, on all fours. Before she could turn around, Oliver stopped her from moving by placing a hand on one of her ankles.

“Wait,” he said in his low husky voice, “Just...wait…”

Curious, Felicity paused where she was and then she felt his hands run up the length of her body in an ever changing pattern across her back, hips and thighs. Then they travelled underneath her nightgown and she felt his fingers slip between her legs, brushing lightly across her clit. She heard his sharp intake of breath when his fingers ran the length of her, rubbing back and forth until a low moan escaped her throat.

“Sit up,” he coaxed. When she raised herself up, he pulled her nightgown up and off of her, “I have no idea why you put this on in the first place.”  
“I have to pretend to be demur,” she chuckled in a low, husky voice. Oliver snaked one arm around her waist and let the other one travel down her torso. She moved her hips back against him as his fingers slipped through the hot, wet heat of her, gasping as he moved two fingers deep inside her.

“I love you,” he whispered as his lips found the pulse point under her right ear.

Her eyes closed of their own volition and she gripped his arms, willing him to continue. She ground against his hand and felt herself rushing towards her release when he stopped and moved his hand away.

“Wai...wait...what…,” she stammered.  
“Hold on,” he chuckled quietly, “Bend back over…”  
“I’m not even gonna ask for the magic word,” she muttered as she returned to all fours and waited for whatever it was he wanted to do. She shivered slightly in the cool air as she heard him take his briefs off.

“Just hold on…,” he chuckled.

She felt the bed sink as he got onto it behind her and his hands return to her hips. Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned forward and planted a kiss in the centre of her back. He was so hard pressed against her. Her hips moved back into him and he groaned. Felicity felt a sudden rise in her desire to have him inside her.

As if he could read her mind, Oliver guided himself into her, pushing in one inch at a time until he was sheathed deep inside her body. For just a moment, he held them both still and then he lowered his body so that he covered hers completely. With short, rolling motions of his hips, Oliver began to thrust inside her. He moved one hand back to between her legs and traced circles around her sensitive, now wet clit.

“Oh God, Oliver...faster…,” Felicity groaned as the tension in her lower pelvis began to move out with a spreading warmth.  
“Not yet,” he said in a gasp as he pulled out of her, helped her turn over onto her back and then kissed his way down her body.

Felicity felt his lips close around each nipple in turn, licking and sucking them until they were so hard they hurt. As he tasted her skin one hand returned to between her legs, his fingers slipping in and out of her in a steady rhythm, and her back started to arch as the tension in her pelvis increased. She carded her fingers through his hair and gasped as he came to rest between her legs, his tongue replacing his fingers. She thrust against his mouth and moaned his name.

“Oh God, Oliver...don’t stop…,” she gasped, “Oh God...oh...God…”  
“Hold on,” he murmured, kissing the inside of her slick thighs, “You taste so good.”  
“Why do you keep stopping!?!” she demanded, “I am going to explode, Oliver.”

Oliver made his way back up her body, licking, sucking and kissing as much of her skin as he could. The combination of his soft lips and beard scruff against her skin was an overload of sensations. She gasped as he circled one nipple with his tongue and massaged the other with his hand until all she felt was ecstasy. When his lips found hers, she was greedy with the kiss. She sucked his tongue, tasting herself on his lips, and groaned as he let his cock rub over her overstimulated clit.

“Oliver,” she panted, “Turn over.”  
“Magic word?” he teased.  
“Please?” she smiled as she traced the scars on his back with her fingertips. Without a further word, Oliver wrapped one arm around her and turned over, keeping her tight against him.

Felicity sat up and straddled his hips, moving up and down his hard length. She watched him slowly succumb to the sensation, his eyes closed and his lips parted, she could see his breathing start to come in shorter gasps.

“Oliver, sit up,” she coaxed, taking his hands and pulling him up.  
“Sit up?”  
“Mmmhmm,” she hummed as he rose up off the bed to a seated position.

Reaching between their bodies, Felicity gently grasped him, stroking his shaft and gazed into his eyes. She loved these quiet, intimate moments, when they were face to face, so close it was like they were sharing the same breath, and then with purpose she joined their bodies. She watched his eyes flutter closed and years of trauma fall away from his face.

She had never told him what his face looked like as he gave himself over to her. How his skin smoothed out and he radiated in the dim light or glowed in the sun. Felicity had always found him to be handsome, but when they were this close, he was beautiful and her love for him became a physical force, wrapping around them both.

With her hands travelling down his back, taking a moment to quietly honour the raised and tortured flesh of the brand left by Ra’s, she gently rolled her hips. Oliver’s hands tightened on her hips as she moved her body against his, pushing all the way down before slowly moving all the way up and feeling how the sensitive head of his cock rubbed the nerve endings near the surface at her entrance.

“Felicity,” he murmured, “The things I want to do to you…”  
“All in due time,” she smiled as she kissed his neck and his face before lightly tracing the shape of his lips with the tip of her tongue. Oliver immediately pulled her into a kiss meant to claim her. It was powerful, probing and full of desire.

As she gave into the need behind the kiss, Oliver shifted to his knees and started to thrust hard and deep inside her taking her breath away. She gripped his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist so that she could anchor herself and meet him thrust for thrust. He had slipped into some place far away in his ancient mind and with each demanding kiss or motion of his hips, she let herself go so she could join him.

His physical strength was something she was always awed and astonished by, especially when he was out in the field, but in private like this it was almost more than she could take. He held her with such tender firmness that she always felt protected, like nothing and no one could harm her. At the moment, he was using his power to drive her body and mind to the edge of reason.

“Uh...oh God,” she moaned just as her orgasm steamrolled through her body, “God, Oliver…”

She clung to him, her body shuddering and pulsing around him, and ground her hips against his but he didn’t stop. His pace stayed at the same intensity, never wavering, and he held onto her as though she would float away from him, sailing out of his reach.

Oliver buried his face in her neck and she could feel his breath, hot and fast, against her skin and it caused her to move her hips faster and harder against him. He moaned and gasped, raising his head for another soul searching kiss just as her body was flooded with a warm and pulsing life from a place deep inside. She felt herself coming undone, fracturing and rejoining as she came over and over until she heard herself crying out from far away. And still he continued to press against that secret spot inside her.

“Oh God, Felicity,” he moaned and she felt him start to swell and grow even harder with each uneven thrust.  
“Hold still,” she whispered in his ear as she clenched down around him, “Oliver, hold still…”

And he did, in those last few precious seconds, Oliver stilled his movements, held her tight against him, and then he pulsed inside her. She could feel a spreading warmth as he gasped and moaned into her neck. Pulling his head up, she pulled him into a kiss that left her mark on his soul.

“God, Felicity,” he murmured, his chest still heaving against hers, “I think we need another no touching day.”  
“How about just no touching until tomorrow?” she smiled as he smoothed her hair back.  
“You are so beautiful,” he sighed.  
“We need another bath,” she said in a low, soft voice, “Or shower.”  
“How about a midnight swim?”  
“Too many sharks at night.”  
“Ok, I vote shower,” he said softly as his lips found the tender patch of skin at the base of her throat.  
“Hmmm,” she hummed, “Can you walk?”  
“In a minute,” he said a he shifted to a sitting position, “My knees need to unlock.”  
“Hey, no one forced you to kneel,” she chuckled softly.  
“Hush,” he growled.  
“I love that voice,” she sighed.

They stayed locked in a tight embrace for a few minutes, feeling each other’s breathing and warmth. Felicity secretly looked forward to these moments, when they were silent and in tune with each other’s bodies. The intimacy and love that flowed between them, like in that moment, wrapped itself around all the memories that were formed. They were her touchstones if she felt insecure or unsure with the relationship.

Oliver still had moments where he slipped away from her, when his memories pushed at him and he would slip through the cracks in his mind and fade away. When he got that thousand yard stare, she always felt a momentary flash of panic and rumbling of fear. But then she would remember a moment like this one and it acted like a balm, it smoothed and soothed her so that she could reach out and quietly bring him back to her.

“We should shower,” she murmured softly.  
“MmmHmmm,” he agreed in a soft hum that traveled through her body like an earthquake.  
“We sure move fast, don’t we?”  
“I could stay like this forever,” he sighed.  
“Me, too,” she whispered as she moved her head so she could look him in the eyes, “Oliver, I meant what I said before. I don’t care where I am so long as you are there with me.”  
“I love you,” he said in a voice choked with emotion.

Felicity smiled and then kissed him with a tenderness that left them both breathless. She gently coaxed his mouth open and their tongues danced around the other in a slow build of passion and love. She knew he was still in his recovery time, so she took advantage of it to explore the feel of his mouth, the way his tongue felt as it moved in her mouth, the intensity of his grip on her body and the way it felt to connect after sex.

“Felicity…,” he said in a breathless whisper, “I think we need to shower.”  
“Ok,” she whispered, “Let’s go.”

Oliver swung his legs over the side of the bed, stood up and slowly made his way to the bathroom while still holding her tightly to him. His cock had softened completely but was still snug inside her. Felicity didn’t care if he wasn’t erect, she loved the feeling of him inside her body.

Once in the hot shower, they went through the motions of the gentle ritual they shared and washed each other clean. Oliver’s hands moved over her body, massaging her breasts, thighs and arms. Then he would switch focus and his hands would shift between her legs, moving in a circle pattern until she would grip his arms, trembling as she hovered at the edge of ecstasy.

This time, when it was her turn to wash his body, she took her time. She started with his back and gently soaped and massaged the old scars and laid gentle kisses alongside the newer one. She felt a tremor run through Oliver’s body and kept moving, traveling down to the scar tissue that he had yet to explain. It humbled her, this stretch of angry, scorched skin. Whatever happened to him had left its mark on him forever and yet he never once spoke of how it came to be.

Her hands traveled over it and down his hips, ass and thighs. His muscles twitched under her hands and she smiled. Felicity knew how he reacted to her touch, how his body betrayed his desire for her, and she went about slowly drawing that lust to the surface. Moving to face him, she soaped his chest, laying tender kisses on the sword scar while massaging the shark bite he had yet to explain and lingering over the soft skin below his belly button.

With deliberate, firm strokes she soaped and washed him. She felt his hands on her shoulders squeeze just a tiny bit as his cock twitched and slowly hardened in her hands. He lowered his head so that his forehead rested on hers and his chest started to heave.

“Felicity,” he groaned, “This will end quickly.”  
“I know,” she whispered.

Without saying another word, he reached down and picked her up. Later, she wouldn’t remember the smooth tiles against her back, the steam rising in the enclosed space or the way the moonlight played across the ocean’s placid surface far below. She would remember the softness of his tongue as it stroked hers, the pressure of his fingers on her thighs and the way he filled her with each short, powerful thrust.

She held onto him, her arms around his shoulders and her legs wrapped around his waist, and let him set the pace he wanted to. The way his lower pelvis rhythmically connected with hers sent shock waves of pleasure through her body. His breathing changed from deep and steady to hot and fast and she knew that he was close to his release.

“God, Felicity,” he panted, “I can’t hold on much longer.”  
“Good,” she murmured and lost herself to another deep, passionate and messy kiss.

She ground down against him as hard as she could in her position, and felt a flash of electric heat that reached her toes and then that undulating wave of warmth that cleared the way for an orgasm that exploded out of her. She bucked and shook and pulsed around him with such intensity that it triggered his own. With a series of hard thrusts, OIiver came with a deep primal growl that triggered a deeper climax in her, one that caused her to moan in helpless surrender to him.

“I...I…I...,” he stammered as he held her still pinned to the shower wall.  
“Did I break you?” she asked in gentle concern.  
“I think so,” he said weakly as he let her down, “I’ve never just...gone blank like that with anyone before.”  
“Rinse off and we’ll figure that out in bed.”

Before she could slip out of his embrace, Oliver kissed her. Not a passionate or messy kiss, but one of profound tenderness. It made her dizzy and breathless, she didn’t want it to end and so was momentarily bereft when he pulled away and helped her clean up.

A few minutes later, she was crawling into the warm bed, waiting for Oliver to join her. As he moved between the rooms, he was briefly illuminated by the soft golden light of the candle she has lit earlier. When he leaned over to blow it out, his muscular body was bathed in the fluid and moving light and she forgot how to breathe.

“How am I so lucky?” she breathed softly.  
“What?” he asked in confusion as he crawled into bed next to her.  
“I still can’t believe that...this is happening, has happened...continues to happen.”  
“Felicity, I sometimes think my entire life was leading to the moment you told me you loved me in Nanda Parbat.”  
“Really?”  
“Yes!” he laughed, “Why the sudden disbelief? You do realize we’ve had sex five times today, right?”  
“I know...that’s alot.”  
“Are...you ok?” he asked in sudden concern, “I didn’t...I mean...did I…”  
“I’m fine, love,” she said gently, “I love you. All of you. All of this.”  
“Never doubt how happy I am with you.”  
“Oliver, what did you mean by your mind goes blank with me?” she asked as she snuggled into his side.  
“It’s the weirdest thing. There are these moments where I lose track of time and everything reduces to this pinpoint in my mind. I feel you so alive around me and then…,” he said wistfully, “All I want, all I know, all I need is you.”  
“I think I know exactly what you mean,” she said softly, “I felt it first in Nanda Parbat.”

Oliver pulled her closer, kissed the top of her head and sighed in absolute contentment. She listened to the song of his heart, and felt the softness of the bedding around her and the way he smelled. He had his own masculine scent that was his alone. It always stirred something in her, it connected her to him in a way she had never experienced before.

“There is no way to really know what’s coming,” he whispered softly, “but I trust in us.”  
“Same,” she said, “Oliver?”  
“Hmmm?”  
“No touching until tomorrow morning.”  
“Deal.”

She felt the edges of her world start dissolve and flow away as she succumbed to the persistent pull of sleep. Oliver’s breathing had evened out into a sonorous, resonant pitch and it was the last sound she heard that night.

 

III

_Felicity awoke beside the crystal clear stream with a song bursting from her lips. Next to her the Old Man sang with her in a surprisingly strong, deep voice. She could hear his voice echoing back to them, she could feel it in her bones as though thunder was were rumbling past._

_“Sing it with me one more time,” he urged, “I want to make sure you know your way to the end.”_   
_“What does it mean?” she asked as the last of the notes faded away._   
_“You’ll know when you get to the top of the butte,” he chuckled._   
_“It has something to do with Oliver,” she stated._   
_“You seem pretty sure of that.”_   
_“Who else would it be about? He’s waiting up there, right?”_   
_“You know too much,” the old man grumbled as he got to his feet, “You gotta leave me some secrets to share.”_   
_“You need to outfox me, old man,” she teased._   
_“That young buck is a lucky one,” he winked, “If I were a younger man…”_

_Felicity’s laugh rang out across the plains, it rolled up the butte, startling a murmur of starlings out of a tree, spooking the distant herds of buffalo and drawing the attention of a pair of circling eagles. The Old Man watched how the earth greeted her joy and knew it was almost time._

_“Ok, golden one,” he said as he crossed to his horse, “Let’s get going.”_   
_“You know, I don’t think my horse can climb that butte.”_   
_“Nope!” he crowed, “You are going to have to climb!”_

_Felicity groaned. She hated hiking._

_“Come on, now,” he teased, “You’ll find the wings to get up to the top.”_   
_“I hope so,” she grumbled._   
_“Sing with me one more time. I don’t think you know the words yet.”_   
_“I absolutely do even if I don’t know what they mean.”_

_Together, Felicity and the Old Man sang the song she was to deliver at the top of the butte._

_“Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_

_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Oshiya chichiyelo_

_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_

_Wakan Tanka umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo wani wachiyelo.”_

_“I think you’re ready for the climb,” he said quietly._   
_“When I get to the top, will Oliver be there?”_   
_“Oh I think Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta will be up there somewhere. Your song will find him.”_   
_“Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta,” she stated, “he doesn’t know yet, does he?”_

_The Old Man turned to look at her. There was no surprise on his face just a slight smile._

_“You are ready,” he mused, “Off you get. The horse can’t climb.”_   
_“That’s a long way up,” she said in resignation, “there is no other path is there?”_   
_“Just the one you will find.”_   
_“You are so much like Yoda…”_   
_“If Yoda was a wise old man, then I guess I am,” he said with good humour._   
_“He was. Is,” she smiled._   
_“Take this drum and this,” he said as he handed her a bag with both the drum and a large water pouch inside, “You’ll need both at the top. Now get going. And sing as you go.”_   
_“Will I see you again?” she asked quietly._

_The Old Man sat in his saddle for a minute and studied her. Slowly, he dismounted his horse and walked up to her, standing at arm’s length in order to peer into her eyes. Whatever he was searching for, he found._

_“You have the fire in your eyes. When it comes to the young buck, your love will last longer than the stars above,” he smiled, “Now get going and remember to sing as you go.”_

_Felicity threw her arms around his narrow shoulders and gave him a firm hug._   
_“Thank you,” she said quietly, “Thank you for everything.”_

_She felt a pat on her back as he hugged her back and she reluctantly let go. The Old Man smiled, patted her face gently, and then got back on his horse, took the reins of her horse, and left without another word._

_Felicity turned and faced the butte. It wasn’t overly tall but it wasn’t exactly small either and she hated hiking but if it was for Oliver, she was determined to make it all the way to the top. Luckily, there was a pathway that had been carved out of the sides of the butte that extended all the way up to the rocky pinnacle._

_With a deep sigh, Felicity started to sing as she followed the pathway. She sang as she past a tree covered in red cloth, she sang as the sky turned dark and lightning flashed, she sang as the wind picked up and debris started to fly around her. She felt the tingle of static electricity across her skin and knew the storm was close._

_Pausing to catch her breath, she sat on the boulder and looked out at the prairie below. She watched the huge herd of buffalo as it slowly made its way from one pasture to another. It flowed like a river, undulating and rolling across the plains. Pulling the drum from its wrapping, she practiced the song again._

_The first strike of the drumstick on the old, resonate leather made the sky tremble. The second strike brought the wind up, and the third brought lightning. Felicity stood in the centre of the storm she had summoned and sang up into it. She watched the clouds gather overhead from all four directions and listened to the thunder as it rumbled over the land._

_Closing her eyes, felicity continued to sing as the wind picked up and she felt as though she were flying in an updraft. She heard the shriek of a large, predatory bird and the brush of feathers against her skin. Electricity surrounded her, raising the hair on her arms, and lightning shout out from every strike on the drum._

_When she opened her eyes again, she was on top of the butte and standing behind Oliver as he sat facing the sun. He didn’t see her so she sat down as quietly as she could and waited to see if he would turn around. He remained silent, still and focused on breathing as deeply as he could. A smaller form sat in shadow beside him, when it moved she recognized Coyote, who always seemed to be where Oliver was._

_Softly, she started to sing._   
_“Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_

_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Oshiya chichiyelo_

_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_

_Wakan Tanka umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo wani wachiyelo.”_

_As the last of the notes rang out across the sky and rolled down the sides of the buttes, the sun went behind a bank of clouds and disappeared only to reveal the stars high overhead. Quietly, Oliver turned around and opened his arms to her. Smiling with her whole body, Felicity took a small step towards him, pushed through the fog surrounding him and into a pitch black abyss._

 

_Song:[  Lakota Peyote Healing Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZel1_5FvU8)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one of those chapters that moves along some of the internal healing Oliver was in such desperate need of at the end of season 3.
> 
> All I can say is this: in the Third part of the chapter, Felicity does something that takes Oliver by surprise. Honestly, when I wrote it I didn't realize how emotional it would become. But it does and it is such a gift she gives him, one that I don't think anyone else had ever done for him.
> 
> His dream is also incredibly revealing and Felicity shows up to sing for him (the link is at the end of chapter 8 for the song on youtube).
> 
> Keep an eye out for a call forward to a certain location in The Unimaginable ;)  
> Oh and this one is sex wall to wall. #sorrynotsorry

Chapter Nine

_Thunder rumbles and shakes the earth_   
_She feels it in her veins_   
_As her heart heals his wounds._

I

Oliver awoke with a start. He thought he had heard thunder coming from somewhere out across the ocean and felt is shockwaves travelling up through the bed. But all he could hear was the sound of sparrows, quails, blackbirds, the occasional shriek of a falcon or hawk and the ever present sound of the waves on the rocky shore below.

Sleep would not come again, he knew, and Felicity was still deeply asleep. He envied her and how hard it was to actually wake her up once she was asleep. It was still quite early and eh wished he had brought his running gear so that he go for a run. He suspected he could have been back before she was up and that she might join him in the shower after he seduced her awake with fresh coffee.

Getting up he picked up his discarded boxers and white shirt and went out to make breakfast. As he left, he could have sworn he heard her singing quietly. He paused but she only sighed and rolled over to snuggle under the covers. If he was quick, he could make breakfast and have it back in the room before she sensed he was gone. They only had one more night left in the small villa, and he didn’t want to waste a single moment of it.

Crossing to the kitchen, he stopped to watch the ocean. The day was grey and he could see the gathering of storm clouds along the northern horizon. If the wind brought those clouds south, they would be in for a rainy day which suited him just fine. He was actually happy to spend the day in bed with Felicity if that’s what the day was going to deliver.

His plans of a lovely breakfast in bed were spoiled by the lack of actual food in the kitchen. They had peaches, local lemons, some left overs from dinner the night before, one last bottle of wine and some coffee. Nothing else. Not even any bread or eggs. With a disappointed sigh, he went back to their bedroom to get dressed.

“Where ya goin’?” she mumbled sleepily from the depths of the duvet.  
“We are out of food. I had no idea we would eat that much.”  
“You mean you would eat that much.”  
“If you say so,” he shrugged.  
“Oliver!” she exclaimed as she struggled to sit up.  
“Stay down, Smoak,” he warned as he laid down on top of her, pinning her to the bed and in the duvet, “This is one fight you can’t win.”  
“You are too heavy,” came her muffled voice.  
“You love it,” he said in his low, gravelly voice.  
“Not...like...this…”

Laughing, Oliver relented and rolled off of her. Before she could get up, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss and got up off the bed.

“If I hurry, I can be back before the weather turns ugly,” he said as he put on his pants and grabbed his shoes.  
“What? Weather?”  
“There is definitely a storm coming. It will hit this side of the isle first, so I’m going get storm food,” he said while he stopped to kiss her again.  
“Your beard is getting too long,” she murmured.  
“You love it,” he smiled.  
“I do but it gets prickly on my face.”  
“I’ll shave later.”  
“Go,” she said quietly, “Before you can’t.”  
“Want anything special?” he asked as he got up.  
“More of that chocolate from yesterday!”  
“Go back to sleep, Smoak,” he laughed as he left.

The drive into town was a quick one as it was still early and no one was on the road but also because the wind had picked up considerably and the sky was darkening. Oliver paused outside the grocery store and looked up at the clouds. They were dark grey, almost tinged blue around the edges, and he could smell rain on the wind.

As he stood, listening to the sound of distant thunder, he overheard the shopkeeper talking in broken english to a customer. There was a big late summer storm headed their way and it would last at least two days. Maybe longer. All ferry service between Capri and the mainland was on high alert and could be cancelled at any time.

Oliver took all of that into account and bought enough food to last a week. He also picked up another couple bottles of local wine, strawberries, chocolate and local produce and bread. Felicity would think he had lost his mind, but if they were trapped on the Isle for a few extra days, he didn’t want to leave the villa or the bedroom. To that end, and as an apology gift for the night before, Oliver bought a huge bouquet of locally grown roses for her.

It was as he was driving back that he let his mind wander to the argument they had the night before. Felicity was right, of course, they would have to go back to the states sooner rather than later and he really was being completely irrational where it was concerned. He was reacting the going back to Starling, not to going back to the states, and he knew it but was failing to stop himself from doing so. Hopefully, the topic would remain quiet for a day or two, he just wanted to enjoy her without the added stress of thinking about returning to a place that held very little good memories for him.

He pulled into the small driveway and turned off the car just as the thunder boomed and the skies opened up. Moving as quickly as he could, Oliver grabbed all the bags and the flowers and ran down the steps to the villa’s front door. Luckily, the ficus trees provided some protection and he was only moderately soaked by the time he stepped inside.

“Hey, Felicity!” he called.  
“Yeah?”  
“Come and give me a hand. I am kinda soaked,” he yelled out to her.  
“That is a sexy look for you, Mr. Queen,” Felicity said with a cocked eyebrow as she appraised his physique through his wet shirt.  
“We really need to talk about your sexual exploitation of me one day. Not today,” he growled as she sidled up to him, “But one day.”  
“Give me a bag or two,” she laughed, “Why so much food?”  
“The storm that is now over head is going to last a while.”  
“What is it about us and storms?” she asked in genuine curiosity.  
“I have no idea. I am not a fan of them,” he said quietly as he followed her into the kitchen.  
“Are you going to be ok?” she asked softly, stopping to gently wrapped her arms around him.  
“Of course,” he said softly, smiling down at her as he held her in a tight embrace, “I’ve never been better.”  
“Good. Now. Food?”  
“Food,” he laughed, “Are you wearing my shirt?”  
“Yeah, it was the closest thing to the bed.”  
“You...look really good in my clothes.”  
“Food, Oliver. Food first, sexy times later.”  
“Here,” he said sheepishly as he handed her the roses, “I wanted to apologize for last night.”  
“Oliver…,” she said softly, “Thank you. I love them and you.”  
“I think we need to eat now,” he said softly as he watched her eyes darken with something close to lust, “Peaches and yogurt? Coffee?”  
“Yes and I can help! I’ll cut the peaches!”

Oliver gave her a look of doubt but relented. She could handle the knife and the peaches weren’t being cooked. Just as he finished boiling the water for the coffee, the lightning started to flash, the kind that chased itself from cloud to cloud, and the thunder rolled up and over the villa. Both Oliver and Felicity froze for just a second and looked at each other, seeking the clarity and gentle weight of the other’s presence.

“Let’s sit in the kitchen, away from the windows,” Oliver suggested.  
“I like that idea.”  
“I’ll bring the coffee, you bring the bowls?”  
“You got it, Mr. Queen.”

Oliver beamed a smile at her. They had known each other for three years but it felt like they had known one another for their entire life times. She was more than just his other half or soul mate. She had helped him find his connection to himself. He would always have his own journey, but without her to compel him forward, he would always be at risk of stepping back into old habits. Felicity was his lifeline, his North Star, and the best friend he had ever had. She was his partner for the rest of the journey they had yet to experience and he hoped it would last forever.

“Hey, remember that resort we stayed during our first week away?” she asked.  
“The one just outside of Starling?”  
“Yup, I think we should go there once a year. I loved it there.”  
“That cabin was perfect,” he agreed.  
“The big tub in front of the window overlooking the ocean…”  
“I think that was the tub that started my obsession with all things soaker sized.”  
“Oh my God, you and tubs!” she laughed, “I always feel like I am a third wheel.”  
“Never,” he said softly, reaching across the small table for her hand, “But if push ever came to shove…”  
“Do you want to sleep alone tonight?”  
“Are you sleeping on the couch?” he asked in mock seriousness.  
“Oliver. Jonas. Queen.”

Laughing, Oliver pulled her up to her feet and into his lap. She was small but he could feel the shape of her curves as they melded to his body. She was supple, strong, and while he felt the need to surround her with his body to protect her, she was capable of protecting him without even breaking a sweat.

He nuzzled her neck, kissed her collarbone, and sighed in deep satisfaction. Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck and shivered at the contact of his beard against her skin. They sat for a moment and listened to the storm outside. The thunder was gaining power as the storm pushed towards land and the wind was starting to lash at the cliffside they were perched over.

“I think this storm is going to become an issue,” she murmured as she rested her head on top of his.  
“I think so, too,” he said softly as moved his hand up under the shirt she was wearing so he could rub her back.  
“What should we do today?”  
“We could read.”  
“We could,” she mused as she rubbed his shoulders.  
“You could do a workout with me.”  
“Or we could nap!”  
“Well, we could go to bed,” he said softly as he found the pulse point under her ear and gently kissed it. He felt her shiver and her hold around his neck tightened but then she did the one thing that could make his mind go blank: she lightly dragged her nails across the sensitive skin on the back of his neck.

Oliver froze and felt a shiver work its way down his body. He looked up at her and saw the smile playing lightly across her lips, she knew exactly what she was doing. Oliver felt the sudden heat of lust growing between them and locked her eyes with his. Her pupils were blown wide open and that was all the invitation he needed. With practiced ease, he picked her up and crossed to the bedroom. As they crossed the threshold, the quiet light of morning was sucked away by the ferocity of the hurricane bearing down and darkness closed in around them.

“The storm seems to want us to get under the covers,” she sighed against his neck.  
“We should do as it wants us to.”  
“Put me down,” she coaxed gently and he complied, curious as to what she wanted to do.

Slowly, she undid his pants and pushed them off his hips and down to the floor so he could step out of them. He felt his breathing catch in his chest. When she took control like this, making him almost a passive participant in a quiet seduction, the fire in his blood roared into life and he had to restrain himself from acting on his overwhelming desire for her.

Felicity ran her hands up underneath his shirt and took her time exploring the roughened edges of his scars, gently tracing the shape of knife and gunshot wounds, burn marks and the brand left by Ra’s. He closed his eyes and gave into the tenderness of her touch, finding peace as the storm raged around them. His body was reacting to the feel of her and when she trailed her fingertips under the waistband of his boxer briefs, he hissed out a breath full of desire.

“Felicity,” he breathed in a ragged voice, “You are going to drag this out aren’t you?”  
“Oh yeah,” she said softly, raising his shirt up so she could lay a kiss in the centre of his chest, “I’m going to enjoy this.”  
“You are lucky we are trapped here,” he chuckled as he ran his fingers through her hair.  
“Just think,” she said as she licked a small circle around first one nipple and then the other, “of all the fun we can have.”

She was standing close enough that he could feel the hard nubs of her nipples rubbing against his skin through the shirt she was wearing. Oliver’s senses went into overdrive while she explored his skin with her hands and mouth and he was close to groaning in mounting frustration. She was purposefully avoiding all contact with his slowing hardening cock and the need he had for her to touch him was overwhelming him.

“God, Oliver,” she breathed softly, “I love your skin.”  
“You make me feel smooth and unmarked,” he murmured as she continued to explore his body.  
“Turn around,” she said with a soft edge of a command layered in those two simple words.

He felt her hands on his burned skin, he felt her lips on the arrowhead brand, and her warm breath blowing across his skin. His body acted on its own and he pulled away from her touch. His shame, regret, and grief where that brand was concerned overwhelmed him for just a moment and he wanted to disappear into the darkness that still lurked at the corners of his mind.

Felicity pulled him back by wrapping her arms around him, leaning her head against his back and slowly stroked across his torso. She pressed her body against his, leaving no room for him to move away from her and then gently pressed a kiss in the centre of his back. Oliver relaxed back into the moment and gently massaged her arms.

“You never have to feel shame or regret about anything with me, Oliver,” she murmured quietly.  
“I know, I know...but that brand…,” his voice broke and he held onto her waiting for the constriction in his chest to ease.  
“It’s part of the story of you. Of your bravery, strength and love for your family. You aren’t the brand,” she said forcefully, “And always know that even when you have to travel alone, when you need to travel alone because I know a part of you will always need to, just tell me and know that I walk your path with you, even if only in my heart.”

Oliver turned back around, cupped her face between his large hands and kissed her with a fierceness that caused her to moan. He felt her arms tighten around him and deepened the kiss, taking her breath away until they both lost track of time.

“Wow,” she breathed as their lips parted.  
“I love you,” he said softly as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him.  
“I’m cold, let’s get back into bed,” she smiled up at him.  
“That sounds like an amazing idea.”

Together, they crawled under the covers and immediately sought the warmth of the other’s body. The storm had shifted and now the wind had picked up and was lashing the island coastline with a hard, driving rain. Felicity wrapped her body around his, resting her head over his heart, and together they listened to the waves crashing far below them.

“I think we might be stuck here for a few days,” he mused.  
“That is not an unhappy thing,” she sighed.  
“I’ve been thinking about when we should go back to the states,” he said cautiously.  
“Oh?”  
“How about the beginning of October? We can go back to that resort and then pick a place to live in Ivy Town.”  
“Ivy Town...I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” she said as she laid a kiss over his heart.  
“So what should we do today?” he asked in a low, quiet voice.  
“Do you even need to ask?” she smiled as she slipped her hand into his boxer briefs, cupping his balls in a light massage.  
“Ms. Smoak…,” he breathed, “I think...I think you are onto something.”  
“I intend to be on something in a little while,” she chuckled softly as she moved to straddle his hips, “But we have all day, so I’m thinking we can take it slow.”  
“So today’s game is the Torture Oliver Until He Begs For Mercy?”  
“Isn’t it always?”  
“I am at your mercy,” he chuckled as she slipped down his body, kissing, licking or lightly biting his skin as she made her way down and under the covers.

Oliver closed his eyes and gripped the bed sheets. He loved the way her lips felt on the soft skin of his belly and the way her fingers traced the ridges of his abs. She teased him occasionally about the prideful way he would flex and tense his muscles around her and he had to admit, he did act like a peacock by preening and showing her how strong he was. But he knew how much she loved to watch him on the salmon ladder or sparring with Diggle and he knew that stopping wasn’t an option.

When Felicity slipped his underwear off his hips and down his legs, she sat up and let the covers fall away. She was breathtaking in the shifting grey light of the storm. It was mid-morning but the darkness produced by the clouds overhead made it look like early evening. When lightning flashed, he saw the way her eyes sparked with life and he had to control himself to not reach for her. She was in control at the moment and he would wait for the right moment to gently take it back.

As though sensing his tension, she shifted up his body just enough to lay claim to his mouth, pushing his lips apart with her tongue, stroking his in time with the way her hand travelled up and down the shaft of his hardening cock. She was in full control now and he almost laughed out loud at how easily she was able to take it from him. He trusted her with not just his life but his heart and body as well.

Breaking free from the kiss, Felicity gently pushed herself back down, releasing him as she did so. He watched her, trying to breathe through the desire, and groaned as her lips wrapped around the head of his erect cock. The way she swirled her tongue around it while gently stroking the shaft was a combination of sensations that were almost more than he could stand.

When she gently sucked in a series of different pressures, he almost came but managed to control himself just in time. He always told her there were reasons why he rarely let her do this and right now was reason number one. The heat of her mouth, the texture of her tongue and the firm strokes up and down his cock combined to push him into a blank, ecstasy driven space.

When he felt his control drifting again he reached for her, pulling her up so to he could redirect her attention to a kiss. This one was messy, passionate and one that threatened to consume them both. When she sucked his bottom lip while lightly grinding against him, Oliver growled low in his throat and quickly turned so that she was beneath him.

“Whoah!” she exclaimed, “That was impressive!”  
“Felicity, I’m going to need you to stop talking,” he said in mock seriousness as he took his shirt off of her and then eased his hand under the waistband of her panties.

She was already so wet, he thought as he ran his fingers down the length of her. Felicity gasped quietly as he traced circles around her sensitive clit, feeling her body twitch and move in response to it. He wanted to slow down but she felt like liquid satin on his fingers and she smelled like pure sex.

As gently as he could, he slipped her panties off of her and without pausing, he lowered his mouth to cover her, gently tracing her clit with the tip of his tongue until she gasped and arched her back, struggling to get closer to him and increase the pressure against her most sensitive and sacred part.

Oliver, now having shifted the control he had relinquished back to himself, refused to increase the tempo or pressure. He gently pushed his tongue inside her and felt her shiver. He moved back to her clit and sucked and licked it until her breathing came in shortening pants. He stopped and moved up her body so he could kiss her, tasting a mix of them both as their tongues danced around the other.

“Oliver…,” she said in a deep, breathy voice, “We have all day but I want you now.”

Staring into her eyes, he firmly guided himself into her, burying himself deep inside her until her eyes fluttered closed and she drew her legs up past his waist, trying to pull him closer to her. He rocked against her gently, not thrusting, just maintaining a deep, rocking penetration that allowed him to stroke the spot inside her that sent her sailing headlong into ecstasy.

Felicity ran her hands up his chest, neck and gently scratched his scalp. When she opened her eyes and stared into his, he saw that eyes darkened with desire and a flush that moved slowly up from her chest. Her lips were parted and he couldn’t resist their pull. He kissed her gently, with love and lust competing for dominance.

Her hips moved against him, pushing his against his pelvis, but he maintained the steady, rolling thrusts that kept him buried deep inside her body. The thunder was back and bursting high overhead, but he felt like they were in the eye of it and safe so long as they sheltered each other as it played itself out.

“Oh God, Oliver,” she gasped, “I love how it feels when you are inside me like this.”  
“You feel so good,” he growled into her neck.  
“I need you to move your hips a little faster,” she coaxed.  
“Nope,” he said as he pulled out of her completely and moved down her body so he could once again cover her with his mouth.  
“Oh God,” she moaned as her body twitched in response to his tongue as it circled her clit.

This time, Oliver anchored himself between her legs, watched her from his vantage point, and proceeded to suck her sensitive nub until her back arched off the bed and her hips jerked against his mouth. He was relentless in the pressure he applied to her most delicate part and pushed her headlong into a powerful orgasm.

He felt her body tense and then uncoil as she came. He slowed the pulsing way he was sucking and licking her and instead gently circled her swollen clit with his tongue. Felicity shuddered as the gentle way he was touching her was once again causing her to rush towards another orgasm. Unable to stop himself, he wrapped his mouth around her and intensified the pressure of his tongue and the rapid, pulsing of how he sucked her clit. This time, when she came, it was with a long, low, primal moan that seemed to start low in her belly before travelling up and out of her mouth.

“Oliver, please...I am dying…”

With a small chuckle, he eased himself up on top of her, being careful to not rest his entire weight on her. Smoothing her hair away from her face, Oliver watched her slowly regroup after the intensity of her last orgasm. He loved the way she clung to him in the moments after, when her body was still humming just under the surface of her skin, and he nestled his throbbing, hard cock between her legs. He almost groaned as he felt the white hot, liquid heat of her body.

“Mmmm,” she hummed quietly, “I think it might be your turn now.”  
“I don’t think it will take long,” he murmured against her lips before he kissed her with a soft, lingering passion that caused her to sigh.  
“Oliver,” she said as she reached between them so she could guide him into her body, “I think you need to focus a bit more on this.”

He groaned into her neck and felt her legs wrap around his waist, pressing him closer to her. She was gently clenching down on him in an undulating movement that made him dizzy. He could feel her breath on his neck and her hands gently scratching up and down his back. It was as close to pure ecstasy as he had ever felt, he thought as his senses were flooded with a pulsing need for only her.

“God, Felicity,” he gasped, “Keep doing whatever it is you are doing.”  
“Move your hips, Oliver,” she coaxed.

Tentatively at first, Oliver slowly thrust inside her and felt his mind expand, bend and dissolve. He moved again and his focus shifted inward. He could feel the mounting pressure in the base of his spine and the slowly moving warmth spreading outward from his pelvis. He was so close to his release that his body moved faster, with more pressure and intent, of its own volition.

“God, Oliver,” she gasped, “Don’t...don’t hold back.”

Snaking an arm underneath her, he raised her hips off the bed and was able to thrust deeper inside her. Her eyes flew open as he stroked that sensitive part with each forceful push into her. Felicity intensified her grip on his body with her legs and arched into him, pressing her pelvis firmly against his, and it was like a switch went off in his mind. He began to thrust hard into her, at a fast, steady rhythm that propelled her towards another climax.

This time, she went limp for just a moment before bucking and shuddering underneath him. She clawed at his back and cried out in such an elemental way while pulsing around him so strongly that her orgasm triggered his own.

He lost all connection with himself as he buried himself as deeply inside her as he could, as though he were trying to connect more than just their bodies, and he felt his cock swell and throb. His mind shut down, it went blank, and all he knew was the scent, sound, feel and taste of her. With a long, deep growl, his hips jerked hard against her and he came in a series of long, hot spurts.

“Jesus,” he gasped, “I think I almost died.”  
“I love you, Oliver,” she said breathlessly, her lips against the base of his throat.  
“I love you, too,” he murmured into her ear, “with everything in me.”  
“You are kinda crushing me.”  
“I can’t move.”  
“Let’s have a bath,” she suggested, “We can watch the storm over the ocean.”  
“That actually sounds,” he said between kisses, “lovely.”  
“Ok,” she laughed, “Stop kissing me and let’s go!”

Oliver gave her one last kiss and then rolled off of her. He was always afraid of crushing her but she never really seemed to mind. He watched her get up, put his shirt back on and saunter into the bathroom. She was humming that tune he thought he heard her singing in her sleep. It wasn’t anything he had heard before and made a note to ask her about it later.

Getting up, he wandered into the bathroom without stopping to put anything on. Felicity turned around from the tub and watched him with an appreciative smile on her face. He felt a flush of heat crawl up his neck but resolutely pretended not to notice.

“You are so sexy,” she breathed quietly.  
“Felicity, we need to talk about how you need to talk to me like that before we have sex.”  
“What?” she laughed, “I can only say sweet nothings to you when I want you to ravage me?”  
“Well, it would help set the mood a little,” he shrugged and immediately ducked as she lobbed a wet loofah at him, “Your aim is terrible.”  
“Come on,” she beckoned as she took his shirt off, “The water is perfect.”

In the dim light of the bathroom, Oliver crossed to the tub and got in. The storm was still raging outside and they could just see the violent waves that were racing towards the rocky shore. Lightning chased itself across the sky and the thunder, now coming from the north, rumbled and shook the walls. He felt safe though, for the first time in a long time, he felt protected here with her.

Taking her hand, he helped her into the tub and waited for her to settle between his legs. The heat of the water relaxed them both as they quietly watch the storm through the rising steam from the bath. He felt like he had found a slice of heaven here and wanted to hold onto it with both hands even knowing it was only temporary. With her head on his shoulder, he allowed the gentleness of who she was to seep into his skin, into his heart, bones and soul. She had rescued him in more ways than he could ever begin to thank her for.

“Oliver?” she asked almost dreamily.  
“Hmmm?”  
“This is heavenly.”  
“It is. It wouldn’t be without you.”  
“Sweet talker,” she chided.  
“I mean it, Felicity,” he said softly as he slowly lathered his hands with the bath lotion she loved so much, “You are the brightest light in my world. I’ve never known this kind of peace.”  
“I know,” she said almost sadly, “But let’s see if we can create some happy memories.”  
“You are amazing,” he hummed while his hands travelled the length of her body. He massaged her breasts as he washed her clean. It was intimate, gentle and he loved the way she felt in the water.

Her breathing changed just enough that he could feel it against his chest. He eased his hands between her legs and her head fell back onto his shoulder. She put up no resistance as he rubbed her still sensitive clit with firm strokes. It didn’t take long for her to gasp and tighten her legs around his hand. She came fast, in one long groan, and then gently pushed his hand away from her.

“God, Oliver,” she sighed, “I need a break. Just for a few hours.”  
“Ok,” he chuckled softly, kissing her cheek, “Why don’t we get out of the tub? Go have a nice long nap?”  
“That sounds perfect.”

Together, they got out of the cooling water and dried off. He watched her with a smile on his face that felt like it came from a secret place in his soul and it was only for her. It was _because_ of her. As he crawled into bed beside her, watching the shadows of the storm play out across the wall of their bedroom, all he could think about was how lucky he was to finally be with her.

As he drifted off to sleep, the last thought he had was about the the song she had been humming earlier and that he had forgotten to ask her about it.

 

II

 

_Oliver felt a gust of wind push against his back as though a giant bird had flown up behind him and flapped its wings. He turned and saw only a growing ridge of dark grey clouds along the horizon to the east and heard the Old Man chuckling softly beside him._

_“You best dismount and start your hike up the butte,” the Old Man said._   
_“What am I doing once I get to the top?” Oliver asked._   
_“Take this bundle and open it once you get to the very top.”_   
_“Then what?”_   
_“You’ll know.”_   
_“I kind of don’t think so,” Oliver said doubtfully._   
_“You will. Just follow Coyote. She’ll guide you right.”_   
_“Will Felicity be there?”_   
_“You really hate mysteries, don’t you?”_

_Oliver laughed. He was nervous and as a result, he was asking a lot of questions that maybe had no answer. Looking up to the top of the butte, he thought he spotted a flash of something familiar. The Old Man chuckled and took the reins of his horse while he dismounted. He was nervous but felt something compelling him to move up the side of the butte._

_“Remember, young buck,” the Old Man said softly, “Listen to your Golden Woman. She knows the way home.”_

_Before Oliver could ask him what that meant, the Old Man started back towards his cabin. He had the bundle in his hand and he felt its weight, balanced and comfortable, and started to make his way up the side of the ridge he was facing._

_“Young buck!” called the Old Man, “Remember that if you lie to her, she will go.”_

_And with that he moved out of sight behind a copse of trees. Oliver was puzzled but kept the advice in the back of his mind. If he meant Felicity, he knew the Old Man was right. If he lied to her, he knew she would leave him. Maybe not forever, but it would damage the trust they were slowly building together. He loved her far too much to jeopardize their relationship but it was a pattern with him. If he felt he needed to protect her, for whatever reason, he feared he would lie to her._

_Thunder cracked high overhead and lightning chased itself across the sky. There was a storm building somewhere but he couldn’t see the extent of it. He had no protection on the side of the butte and yet, the sun kept shining and the thunder drifted away across towards the eastern horizon. Oliver followed an old trail that ran along the the edge of the butte, snaking its way up to the top._

_He past trees loaded with small red ties, he stopped to look at them and caught the scent of tobacco and something sweeter, earthier, underneath. He had no idea what it was but suspected it was a local indigenous plant from the marshier areas. Something told him to leave something of himself behind, so he cut a piece of his shirt away and tied it to a lower branch. He had nothing to wrap in it but a softly said prayer._

_It was at that moment that he heard the song Felicity had been singing earlier. It drifted down to him from the top of the butte.He couldn’t make out the words but knew they were in the language that the Old Man spoke. It was haunting, beautiful and it was calling to him, pulling him upwards. If she was there, then he needed to join her._

_Up the trail he saw a familiar shape and heard a soft yip. Coyote was calling him, telling him to hurry us and so he quickened his pace. He had no idea what was waiting for him but felt the need to get to it before the storm arrived._

_Rounding one last corner of the trail he was following, Oliver came face to face with an impossible sight. The sky had dimmed and the stars were out in huge swaths and swirls above him, he felt compelled to stop and watch the shimmering movement of the ancient light. It reminded him of the desert and Mesa Verde. The stars felt like they were pressing down,like if he reached up he could run his hands through them._

_A quiet yip came from in front of him and he remembered Coyote was there, waiting for him to sit down at the very top of the summit of Bear Butte. Carefully, as he continued under the dim blue light of the universe, he made his way to a circle of flat ground and sat down. Oliver gently opened the pouch he had been given by the old man and examined its contents._

_Laying the leather flat, he found a small piece of red ochre, a bundle of sage, lavender and sweet grass, two pieces of flint and some dried moss. He understood the flint and bundle of dried flora, but the moss and ochre left him scratching his head in puzzlement. When Coyote reappeared and dropped a number of large sticks at his feet, he got it._

_Arranging the sticks in a tent formation, and placing the moss underneath them, he struck the flint together until sparks formed and then he set to work on making a fire. On Lian Yu, he at least had managed to find matches or used a machete to create sparks with a piece of flint. Never did he have to knock two rocks together to create fire._

_Once the fire took hold, he sat back and watched Coyote as she paced back and forth in front of him. She was restless and watching the sky, like she was half expecting something to fall out of it. He tried to lure her over but she was determined to watch the heavens and wait. On instinct, he threw a small amount of the lavender, sage and sweetgrass onto the flames._

_Immediately, a calming aroma rose up from the fire. He hadn’t been overly sure that he should have done that, but once the smoke spread around him and drifted up to the sky, Coyote sat on her haunches, threw her head back and howled._

_Oliver felt chills run up and down his spine and shivered in the cool night air. It was then, as a small gust of wind blew around him, that he heard the sound of a drum and a soft voice singing. It was Felicity. He looked around but could see only soft, vague shadows. Wherever she was, it was outside the flickering circle of light created by his fire._

_Closing his eyes, he listened to the words of her song and felt an overwhelming sadness filter through him. Oliver lost himself to every bad memory, every almost death, injury and wound and took stock of how many times he had cheated death. Underneath every decision was a lack of regard for his own life, like he death was a companion to welcome and not avoid._

_Why did he seek out the company of that kind of companion when he had the best one he would ever know waiting for him on the other side of the firelight? Did he not see himself as worthy of her? Or living? After all was said and done, after the League of Assassins, after Ra’s al Ghul, did he secretly still want to court death? Or did he want to live? Did he want to pursue happiness and love with Felicity?_

_Oliver felt hot tears pour down his face but remained absolutely still. He stomach was knotted in crippling fear as for just a moment, a small terrifying moment, he wasn’t sure if he did want to live. He had survived more horrors than his memory had room for, sustained more loss and pain then a lifetime of peace could repair. Was he ready to take a deep breath and start a new life with Felicity?_

_There were moments where decades were experienced in a week or days. He felt as though he were watching his life through a veil of smoke, knowing what he was searching for on the other side but he was too afraid to take that step, to walk through it once and for all. He was happy but he was terrified as well. So he sat in darkness beside the fire and stared out past the edge of night and searched for her in the light of day._

_Coyote gave him a nudge with her snout and made him look out to his left, into the west, and there he saw her. She was sitting on a large rock, watching him, and she was singing._

_“Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Ate omakiyayo_

_Atay nimichikun_   
_Oshiya chichiyelo_

_Wani wachiyelo Atay omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Atay omakiyayo_   
_Wani wachiyelo Atay_

_Wakan Tanka umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo_   
_Umsimalayo wani wachiyelo.”_

She paused and waited. The song was a plea for him to live but she wasn’t going to make him choose, she was simply singing the answer into creation with every note and beat on the drum.

Oliver stood up, opened his arms wide and waited for her to push out the darkness. He realized that it didn’t matter where they were, home wasn’t dependent on location. It was where they were together. He was choosing to live, no matter what, he was choosing to live for himself and for her.

“Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta,” she said with a smile that outshone the sun and stepped through the veil of smoke and scattered the stars.

 

III

Oliver awoke with a start. He could still smell the smoke from the fire in his dream and the song Felicity had sung. He reached out beside him and found the bed empty. With his eyes closed, he cast his hearing out and heard her humming quietly to herself in the bathroom. Smiling, he waited for her to come back into the room. The storm was still raging outside and just as the lightning flashed, brilliant white and sizzling, she came back into the bedroom.

She had on a thin, see through, white cotton dress that flowed around her in diaphanous waves. He loved her gentle style now that they were away from the city and work. Oliver loved her work clothes but there was something about the carefree way she dressed now that made his heart race.

“You look beautiful,” he said softly.  
“Did I wake you?” she asked quietly as she crawled back into bed.  
“Nope,” he smiled as he opened his arms to her.  
“You were humming in your sleep,” she said as she nestled into him.  
“I had an interesting dream….you were there and singing but I couldn’t figure out the words.”  
“I was singing? Me?”  
“Yes,” he laughed, “You!”  
“Was I any good?”  
“You were amazing,” he said softly as he kissed the top of her head.  
“We should get up and get something to eat,” she murmured as she kissed his chest.  
“We should.”  
“What did you get?”  
“Strawberries and -” before he could finish, she was up and out of the bed. She paused to pick up his briefs and threw to him on the bed.  
“Come on!” she coaxed, “Let’s go eat.”  
“Why do I have to get dressed? These briefs aren’t going to be on for long.”  
“Oliver, my only rule for the kitchen is…?”  
“No nudity.”  
“BINGO! Now let’s go eat!” and with that, she left him to dress and made her way to the kitchen.

The next hour went by a luxurious pace. There was no rush to eat or do anything other than sit and enjoy each other’s company as the storm raged around them. They were safe, comfortable and oblivious to the real damage the winds and rain were visiting upon the small Isle. Oliver didn’t care if they spent the day on the couch reading or in bed, he was simply happy to be with Felicity.

“So why do you look so smug, Mr. Queen?” she asked as she cleared their plates.  
“Just thinking about this.”  
“This?” she asked in genuine puzzlement.  
“Yup. This. You and me. This trip.”  
“And what are you thinking?”  
“That there is no where on earth I’d rather be.”  
“Italy is beautiful,” she agreed.  
“We could be in Fargo, North Dakota, so long as we are together I’ll be happy.”  
“Oliver…,” she said as she blushed.  
“I’m serious, Felicity,” he said earnestly as he reached for her hand, “Whenever you are ready to go back to the States, I will be ready, too.”

Felicity stared at him, her eyes shining, and then she smiled. She smiled from the bottom of her soul and he felt the joy like a breath of air across his skin. His body started to hum with energy and he didn’t care about the dishes or the weather, all he cared about was her.

“Oliver...you have that look,” she said in a low, emotion filled voice.  
“What look is that?”  
“The look that says I am going to need a long massage later after our shower.”  
“How about,” he said with a chuckle, “we decide where we want to land when we get back to the states first?”  
“I like that idea.”  
“Come on,” he said while reaching for her hand.

Without saying a word, she slipped her hand into his and followed him out into the living room. Oliver grabbed a light, woolen blanket from the back of a chair and wrapped them both in it once they sat down on the couch. The storm was still raging outside and so they sat in a gentle silence, watching the ocean roll and the lightning flash across the black sky.

“Oliver, I think we might be stuck here for a few days,” she said somewhat fearfully.  
“I think so, too,” he replied as he pulled her tight to his side. She was warm and fit the empty spaces of his body.  
“So tell me, where are you thinking we land?”  
“I was thinking maybe Ivy Town. Not too close to Starling but not too far either.”  
“Do you think maybe a condo or house?”  
“I was hoping a house,” he said with a small smile, “Nothing too big, but something just for us.”

Felicity looked up at him and smiled. He hadn’t thought that long about it but something felt right about a house, somewhere on a cul-de-sac with neighbours, trees and maybe a backyard. Oliver hadn’t allowed him to think much beyond the present but all of a sudden, he caught a small glimpse of the future and knew there would be no other woman for him. Felicity was it.

“What are you grinning about?” she teased, “Are you envisioning a cul-de-sac? Neighbours? Maybe a lot of trees and a backyard?”  
“Maybe,” he smiled back all the while amazed at how intune she was with his innermost thoughts.  
“You get to mow the lawn.”  
“Hey now, if I am cooking all the time…”  
“Nope. I will be bringing home the bacon.”  
“I should have bought bacon.”  
“Do they have bacon here?”  
“It’s called pancetta, Felicity,” he said with an air of haughty condescension.  
“So you think this couch will be long enough for you to sleep on tonight?”  
“You need to stop threatening me. I am really vulnerable.”  
“Ha!” she snorted.

Just then the wind lashed the side of the villa and the walls shook. Instinctively, Oliver pulled her closer to him. He wasn’t sure if it was for her protection or for his but he could feel all of his tension melting away. Kissing the top of her head, he relaxed back into the couch and watched the ocean churn through half closed eyes.

Felicity was absentmindedly, but gently, tracing the tattoo down his side. The first time she did that, it tickled but now it was comforting and sent shivers up and down his spine. Her breathing had leveled out and deepened with each silent pass of her fingertips over the old ink.

He once joked that they would need to make up for lost time but now he didn’t feel it was a joke. Their desire for each other was almost insatiable. He wanted her now but was waiting to see what she would do. Tiny though she was, he was in awe of her power to command not just his body but his mind. This woman, this uncomparable woman, was the first face he wanted to see when he woke up and the last he wanted to see at night.

“Oliver?” she asked softly.  
“Hmmm?”  
“Can we go back to the grotto before we go?”  
“I don’t know. I’ll have to phone and check. I think it will depend on the storm and if it is accessible,” he said drowsily, slowly succumbing to her gentle touch.  
“Maybe we can just have another bath.”  
“Oh, I think we’ll definitely have one of those. Maybe more than one.”  
“Oliver, we are only human.”  
“My stamina is supernatural.”

Felicity looked up at him, raised an eyebrow, and laughed.

“You are hilarious,” she chortled.  
“What? You don’t believe me?”  
“You have yet to prove your stamina in terms of longevity.”  
“I sense a bet…”  
“Oliver…,” she said in mock exasperation.  
“I don’t need a reward,” he said in his low, growly voice.

Oliver watched a flush rise up onto her neck and face. Her lips parted slightly and that was all he could take. Leaning down he tenderly kissed her, resisting the urge to push past the intimacy and dive deep into the rising desire between them.

“Oliver?” she asked quietly.  
“Hmm?”  
“I think we need to keep making up for lost time,” she said as she pushed herself up and moved to straddle his hips.  
“Felicity,” he said with mock severity, “I am only human.”  
“Says the man who just bragged about his virility,” she chuckled softly with her lips next to his ear.

Oliver closed his eyes as her lips found the tender spot under his left ear. It was a direct connection to the bundle of nerves at the base of his spine. He felt a shiver race down his back and his hands involuntarily gripped her hips. Her hands traveled down his chest to his waist so that she could gently pull his shirt up, making him lift his arms.

Looking up at her, he saw that she was smiling at him.

“What?” he asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a battle scarred body before?”  
“Not one that takes my breath away like yours,” she murmured while gently tracing the scar on his chest left by the Demon’s Head blade.  
“Felicity…”  
“Shhh,” she whispered as she lowered her lips to the shiny scar tissue, “Have I ever told you how your scars feel when I kiss them?”  
“No,” he managed to breathe out.  
“Some are smooth, like they are made from something other than your skin. They vibrate differently,” she said softly as she moved to the knife wounds above his heart, “The knife wounds are hot, almost waxy and they have a deeper thrumming beat then the gunshot scars.”  
“Wha...what do those feel like?” he stammered as he felt her breath across his neck.  
“They are almost like liquid under my tongue. Hot and thick. They have a steady beat. Like a heartbeat only deeper,” she mused gently as she traced a gunshot scar on his arm with the tip of her tongue, “Every part of you is different, beautiful and perfect.”

Oliver lost himself to her tender caresses. She had such a deft touch that he felt commandeered by her desire for him. He felt her hands circle behind him to slowly feel the burned flesh on his back. He lowered his head to her shoulder and tried to deepen his breathing, to gain some semblance of control.

“Oliver...look at me,” she coaxed, remaining still and silent until he did, “I love every part of you. I don’t care about the scars or how you got them, just that you are alive and here with me, right now.”  
“You are...I love you, Felicity Smoak,” he smiled.  
“I love you, Oliver Queen,” she whispered as she traced the brand on his back, “Now this...this one sings in deep baritone voices. It is so hot and it transforms your skin into a story.”  
“What about my lower back?” he whispered as he rested his forehead on her shoulder.  
“That one is tight. Like it is still healing. It is thick and rough,” she murmured as she trailed her lips up his neck, “The shark bite feels alive. It has a current to it, almost electrical.”

She had never explored him in this way before, telling him what she felt when her fingertips traced the hard ridges of his body. It was usually just sensory. This was hypnotic, the quietness of her voice, the gentle touch of her fingertips, lips and tongue. He had once told her that with her he felt smooth, unmarked by violence and years of pain when she touched him. Now, he embraced the remnants of wounds, of the fights and near misses with death. She was connecting him back to his body when all along he thought he had made that journey on his own.

Oliver looked up into her eyes and saw a gentle peacefulness reflecting back at him. They had forgotten about the storm, about the world outside, and had retreated to that private space where no one and nothing else existed. When her hands slowly worked their way down the long, trailing knife scars on his back, ones he had received during his time in Russia with the Bratva, he finally understood how deep then went as he let go of the guilt that kept them fresh and bleeding in his memory. He would never again need to have his skin opened, cut, stabbed or shot in order to not feel. Felicity had released a part of him he had deliberately forgotten about.

“Felicity?”  
“Hmmmm?”  
“Do you trust me?”  
“Of course I do! Where did that come from?” she asked in concern.  
“You’ll see,” he said with a small smile as wrapped his arm around her waist and stood up.

Felicity instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. She was smiling at him as the thunder rolled over the water, sounding like a chorus of voices in the distance. Oliver had forgotten about the storm and was focused on only her. He crossed the living room in a few long strides and carefully, he entered the dark bedroom and made his way to their bed.

Gently, he lowered her down so that she could stand in front of him. His constant instinct was to wrap his arms around her, cocoon her in his arms to protect her even when there was nothing to protect her from. In her bare feet, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders and the width of his body dwarfed hers. It warmed his blood when he thought about it but now, as she stood looking up at with an air of expectation, the heat was a surge that raced through every cell in his body.

“Oliver…,” she breathed, a blush colouring her cheeks, “What are you looking at?”  
“You,” he said simply.

Later, he would think back to that simple question and his equally simple answer. He had spent what felt like hours exploring her body with his hands, mouth and tongue. She had clung to him, shaking as she reached peak after peak, giving over to the steady rhythm he would set with his fingers as they moved inside her. Or how she tasted as she flowed over his tongue. He never once took his eyes off of her. He wanted to witness each moment of ecstasy as she experienced it.

When she was almost completely exhausted, she pulled him to her and kissed him with more desperation and need than he thought her still capable of. Gently, he pushed inside her and felt her body come alive around him, pulling him in as deep as he could go. He gasped at the intensity of how she wrapped around his throbbing cock and knew they were both close to the point of no return. He deliberately set a languid pace, with deep rolling thrusts that kept their bodies pressed together, and the tension between their bodies charged the air around them with electricity.

With a deep, shuddering growl, Oliver came in one long, hot stream inside her just as she tightened hard around him. He distantly heard her telling him she loved him over and over and it was a mantra, a hymn, a soul song that he would hear echoing in his dreams later that night.

The rest of the day and night went by in cat naps, small meals and time in bed. Sometimes they made love, sometimes they laid wrapped in each other’s arms and talked. They gently, carefully and lovingly decided what kind of house they wanted, how many rooms, and where in Ivy Town to look. They both drifted off to sleep in mid sentence only to awaken to a storm that had refueled itself and hunger pangs.

Later, as lightning flashed and crackled in the sky above them, Felicity gently rode him to a beat only they could hear. He watched her and saw her eyes flash with starlight and the thunder seemed to resonate through her body. Suddenly, as he felt her tremble and pulse around him, he knew what the name was the Old Man in his dreams had told him to call her. As he felt the static electricity of the storm building around them and the echo of thunder in the air, he knew without a doubt who she was in this moment. Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan, her secret name, Thunder in Her Veins.

As she cried out, lost in her own world of pleasure and love, Oliver felt something loosen in heart and he let go of a piece of his fear. He sat up and wrapped her in his arms, feeling every small shudder and tremble that rumbled through her, and held her tight to his body. She clung to him, using his body to anchor herself and he felt that if he didn’t hold her, she would float away.

“Felicity,” he gasped as the spreading warmth in his pelvis slowly uncoiled, “You are my heart.”

She said nothing, instead she kissed him. A simple, gentle kiss filled with such an aching tenderness that he felt the cracks in his heart seal themselves shut. She had provided the song that would carry them into the future and now, she had brought him back to himself.

At the end of the night, after a long, hot shower and snack of peaches, strawberries and limoncello, the power flickered and winked out as a gale of wind slammed into the cabin. Oliver got up and carefully crossed to where Felicity was sitting in the kitchen and took her hand in his.

“Come on. Let’s go to bed,” he quietly urged.  
“Shouldn’t we try to find the breaker box?”  
“It’s outside on the wall by the rosemary.”  
“Shouldn’t we try to see if we can restart it?”  
“Felicity, listen to the wind,” he chuckled.  
“I know but…,” she trailed off as the thunder cracked overhead.  
“Ok, wait here,” he said softly. He sensed her unease and wanted to make sure her nerves were settled before they headed off to sleep.

He stepped out into the small garden and was instantly soaked. The rain was coming down sideways, there were small twigs and branches being blown off of trees and the thunder and lightning crackled in the air all around him. He turned around and went back inside without even crossing over to the breaker box. It would have been suicidal to try and flip the switch in this weather.

“Oh, oh Oliver,” she laughed, “I am so sorry I made you go out in that.”  
“You know, I would take you a lot more seriously if you weren’t bent over laughing like that.”  
“I can’t help it,” she gasped.  
“Well, I’m freezing and wet…”  
“What are you thinking, Mr. Queen?” she asked softly, as she sidled up to him.  
“Well, the hot water is off…”  
“Uh huh…”  
“...and the lights are off…”  
“Mmmm…,” she agreed as she worked her hands up under his shirt, helping him shed the wet garment.  
“Maybe towel off…,” he said in a low, soft voice.  
“I could help with that,” she conceded as she helped him out of his wet boxer briefs.  
“You could,” he agreed in a voice full of heat and desire.  
“Oliver,” she said in a tone full of wonder, “you should see you…”

He felt his voice catch in his throat as he watched her expression change from playfulness to naked desire and love. As the lightning flashed, he caught the sparks that flew from her eyes and before either of them could stop themselves, they were in each other’s arms. Oliver picked Felicity up and carried her back to their bedroom, somehow navigating the distance without hurting himself all while she was kissing his face, neck, and mouth.

Their bodies were tired but it just took one look from her and he forgot about all the times that day they had made love. All he knew was that he needed to feel her skin under his hands, the gentle softness of her mouth, the hot wetness of her body when he was inside her. She pulled him to her, demanding his hands, tongue and cock and he lost himself to her persistence.

This time, they clung to each other and slowly rocked their bodies to a gentle rhythm that mimicked the motion of the water from the grotto the day before. They were both too exhausted to move much faster and the resulting tension that built up between them with each small movement left Oliver close to tears of joy. Their bodies were in perfect sync as they embraced each other in the darkness.

Oliver felt her climax starting before she buried her face in his neck and cried out in ecstasy. With a low, deep moan he joined her, holding her to him as tightly as he dared. Neither of them moved for several minutes, instead they took that time to listen to the wind and rain as the storm howled its fury at the Capri coast.

“Oliver?”  
“Hmmm?”  
“No touching until the morning.”  
“You can’t seem to help yourself, Felicity,” he chuckled.  
“I promise to try,” she laughed softly.  
“Let me grab a towel and then sleep, ok?”  
“Mmmhmm,” she hummed into his neck.  
“I think there is one beside the bed,” he yawned as he reached down to the floor, “Got it.”

Oliver turned over and saw that Felicity had already fallen asleep. Gently, he wiped them both clean, pulled the duvet over them and nestled down into the bed. Sleep came quickly and soon they were both transported into the dark depths of dreamless sleep.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The end of a long journey that began under the stars in Colorado and ended next to Ivy Town a year ago when things were wonderful and Oliver and Felicity resembled the characters I loved so damn much.
> 
> Here they finally leave uncover the last of the meaning of their dreams and meet the Creator.  
> They explore a grotto and each other. Basically this is just good smutty fun.

**Chapter Ten**

_Shifting back and forth_   
_They wrestle with reality_   
_And welcome the dawn with laughter._

_I_   
_Felicity_

 

_Felicity floated through the veil of sleep and slipped silently into the dream. She was still on top of the Butte with Oliver only instead of watching him patiently from behind, she was in his arms standing next to a small, smoldering fire. He felt solid, strong and whole. It was different than he usually felt, he felt complete and steady, like he had found something up here on top of the Plains._

_“You have a lovely voice,” he murmured softly into the top of her head._   
_“I never knew I could sing like that. Especially in another language,” she mused reflectively._   
_“I don’t even know for real what you were singing, but I felt it. The message was beautiful. Thank you,” he said softly._   
_“This is the strangest dream yet,” she chuckled softly and felt him stiffen in her arms, “What? What’s wrong?”_   
_“This is the strangest dream I have ever had. Me. This is my dream...or it was,” he said in confusion._   
_“Oliver…?”_   
_“I started dreaming about an Old Man who took me to-”_   
_“His cabin where he made you-”_   
_“Chicory and dandelion tea,” they both said in unison._

_Oliver looked at Felicity and they both started to laugh._

_“Here we are again,” she smiled up at him._   
_“Here we are again,” he agreed, “You, me, an Old Man, Coyote and Deer Woman.”_   
_“Oliver, I feel like...I feel like the universe is telling us something.”_   
_“That no matter where we are, or when we are, we will always find each other?”_   
_“And keep the other safe.”_   
_“What else did the Old Man tell you?”_   
_“A few things but mostly I felt like he was making me see a few things about myself. Felicity…,” he trailed off, unsure of what to say next._   
_“Oliver, what did he show you?”_   
_“Not so much what he showed me as what he told me. He gave you a song and me a story.”_   
_“Will you tell it to me?”_   
_“Eventually, but not here,” he said as he looked down at her with a smile spreading across his face, “Let’s just enjoy the view.”_   
_“It is beautiful out here,” she sighed._   
_“It is. Tell me about the song,” he coaxed._   
_“In due time. I was going to tell you what I saw when I crossed through the smoke.”_   
_“Tell me.”_   
_“You were standing in the shadow of the stars. Oliver, you are so powerful and strong. Sometimes when you are standing still, you seem like you are twenty feet tall. You...you just take up so much space but in such a commanding and gentle way.”_   
_“Even when I was the Arrow?” he teased._   
_“You never scared me,” she laughed, “but you worried me and devastated me on a couple of occasions.”_   
_“I’m sorry for that, for all of it. If I could go back…”_   
_“Hey,” she looked up at him as she spoke, searching his eyes, “Never apologize to me again for that, we are in Italy or South Dakota or wherever we are and we are safe. New memories?”_   
_“New memories,” he couldn’t help but smile at her and her endless faith in them._   
_“Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta,” she murmured as she kissed the centre of his chest._   
_“What was that?”_   
_“That’s who you are,” she said softly, “Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta. The Old Man can explain it better than I can although I am sure he will make me explain it. But it’s what I see when I look at you.”_

_Oliver cupped her face and searched her eyes and she felt like he was looking for something else, another answer to a deeper question she had yet to voice. Felicity stepped back and took him by his hand and lead him back to the fire. The wind was cool up this high and she had no idea just how long they were going to be in this dreamspace together._

_“The song, Felicity. Tell me about it.”_   
_“Oliver,” she started, quickly glancing up at him, “are you sure?”_   
_“Yes.”_   
_“It’s one line repeated: Father, I want to live. That’s it. It is your song, you just haven’t embraced it yet.”_

_Oliver sat silently beside her, lightly stroking her back in the way he did when he was lost in thought. She looked up at him and saw that he was staring out across the Plains towards the distant horizon. He looked sad, reflective and alone. Lightly, she stroked the inside of his arm and pulled him back to her one heartbeat at a time._

_“Oliver?” she asked softly, “What is it?”_   
_“I’ve been asking myself if...if I want to live. I didn’t when I gave myself over to Ra’s. Thea was safe but I lost you in the bargain. I felt like everything I was had been torn out of me but I dreamt about you, about us, and we were free in every single one. Just you and me and I felt so amazingly alive with you.”_

_Felicity sat quietly, she didn’t trust her voice as she listened to him. He was speaking from a place of such pain and self loathing. Ra’s had cut his soul in two and she was terrified he would never find his way back to himself. Oliver’s strength, his true heart, was in how much he loved. He was willing to die for Thea, without even blinking an eye, and she loved him for it with a ferocity that threatened to consume her body and soul._

_“Felicity, when you flew up the dam and saved me, you gave me...hope to look forward to a future. I love you, Felicity, and I will never get tired of saying that to you or feeling it whenever I look at you. I want to live, more than anything, I choose to live.”_

_Hearing him finally say that he wanted to live stopped her cold and she felt as though her heart might burst with joy. Unable to stop herself from crying she gave in and let the tears flow. Love felt like too soft a word for how she felt for him in this moment. Oliver, for all of his faults, loved with his entire being. He loved with his heart, body and soul. It was a physical force that was woven into the fabric of who he was and nothing could or would ever change that. What she felt was a sacred tenderness that arose from somewhere deep within her soul._

_“Oliver,” she said softly through her tears, “that is the one thing I have feared, that you would stop wanting to be here, alive and with me.”_   
_“Felicity!” he exclaimed as he pulled her to him so tightly she could feel his heart beating through his clothes and her skin. It felt like a earthquake under her skin._   
_“I’m happy, Oliver, I am,” she comforted him as they watched a pair of eagles fly overhead, “It means I can stop wondering and hoping….it means we can finally live.”_   
_“You are like the thunder in the storm, no matter what I can hear you in my heart and soul,” he murmured softly. She truly was Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan. The Old Man said that name over and over and he missed the meaning until today. She was Thunder in Her Veins Woman._   
_“I think the Old Man has a crush on you,” he teased._   
_“He thought you didn’t listen and asked too many questions,” she laughed softly._   
_“We should get going down the Butte before we lose the light.”_   
_“Back to the Old Man?”_   
_“Yup. I think we need to see him one last time.”_   
_“I don’t know. I think he means for us to wake up.”_   
_“Maybe, but plans change.”_

_Together, hand in hand, they made their way down the Butte. They had a long walk back so they set about finding the path back to the stream and then through the prairie grass to the clearing that held the Old Man’s cabin. They were so engrossed in each other that they missed all the clues that someone was waiting for them just shy of the horizon._

_It was only when they heard the cough that they looked up and saw Coyote. She was waiting beside the stream. It was like she was calling them closer to the water. Coyote was waiting with the Old Man, who had a small fire going, and seemed content to ignore them._

_Felicity laughed as the Old Man turned to avoid them. She sensed Oliver’s unease and wrapped her arm around his waist, anchoring him to her body so that he could feel her confidence and strength. It was something she shared freely with him but at this moment she suspected he needed her more than he knew._

_“We made it down!” she called to his back._   
_“So I see,” he chuffed._   
_“You seem...unimpressed,” Oliver said cautiously._   
_“No, Young Buck, not unimpressed.”_   
_“Then...sad to see us go?” Felicity volunteered._   
_“You are always welcomed here at the stream’s edge, Golden One.”_   
_“What about Young Buck over here?”_   
_“Yeah, he can come, too. So long as he stops asking questions.”_

_Felicity laughed and pulled Oliver with her to the water’s edge. He was somewhat reticent about it but he yielded to her eventually and came to sit next to her by the stream. She knew he and the Old Man had a contentious relationship but things were different now. The sky was changing colour and the sun had finally moved lower down, edging closer to the horizon._

_“I saw your storm, Thunder Woman,” the Old Man chuckled, “You flew with the Wakíŋyaŋ, the Thunder Beings, and they treated you like one of their own.”_   
_“I wondered about that….,” she said quietly as she watched the water move softly on._   
_“He gave it to you, didn’t he?” he asked, giving Oliver a pointed look._   
_“Gave me what?” she asked in confusion, looking first at Oliver and then back at the Old Man._   
_“You’ve got to be...Young Buck, I’m giving you the time it takes for me to go over to my horse and get my bundle and back to finish your task,” he said as he got up and walked away._

_“Oliver, what is he talking about?”_   
_“I kinda had something to tell you and I figured out exactly what it was earlier but…”_   
_“But we were otherwise engaged,” she finished for him as he blushed a furious red under the golden sun._   
_“Yeah,” he chuckled quietly, “I lost track of where I was for a bit.”_   
_“So what is it? What do you need to tell me?” she prompted gently._   
_“That you are Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan,” he said softly as he pushed a strand of hair off of her face. It was such a simple but intimate gesture that caused her breath to catch in her throat._

_Oh how she loved this man. This brooding, giant of a man who had more stories hidden in his mind than he thought he would ever have time to tell her. She loved him with her entire body, mind and soul and when he was ready, she would listen to them all. Off in the distance, she glimpsed the Old Man turn around and caught his eye. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw a small smile cross his face._

_“What does that mean?” she asked with a tremulous voice._   
_“It’s yet another name for you, Thunder in Her Veins Woman,” he explained with such tenderness and affection for just a moment she felt weightless and untethered._

_How could something said with such so much genuine love throw her off balance?_

_“That’s..that’s beautiful,” she said with awe in her voice._

_“Thunder Woman!” the Old Man called, “You are floating away on the updraft.”_

_Felicity laughed but then she looked into Oliver’s eyes and sailed away into the universe he was showing her with every breath they shared. It was vast and seemingly never ending. She saw their future together in a blink of an eye and wanted nothing more than to fly into the cosmos to meet it._

_II_

_Oliver_

_Oliver blinked and found the earth again. He had felt himself begin to drift with Felicity as her spirit reached out to touch his. He had never experienced anything like that before, not with anyone in his life before or after his exile. Felicity opened up a part of him that for so long had been a vault, sealed shut through sheer force of will._

_He couldn’t hide from it anymore than he could keep her from it. One say soon, he would have to tell her about Russia, about the time he spent on Lian Yu after Waller found him in Opal City. It was the only way he could shed the remnants of his past and begin his life with her, as equals and partners._

_The Old Man had challenged him to be something he didn’t think he could be: alive. Felicity had asked him, in her way, if he wanted to live. Both of them spied something in him. Felicity used to call it his inner shadow, that dark form he had created to cut himself off from his heart. The Old Man hadn’t named it but he knew it was there. Oliver had choices to make now, and one in the future he was sure of it, that would lead him back to the place of fear that had wrapped itself around his identity._

_Looking into the gold fleck blue eyes of the woman he loved in such a deep way it felt spiritual and transcendental, he knew his decision was made to make their future a shared one. He just wished the Old Man would finish whatever it was he was doing so that they could get started._

_“Thunder Woman,” the Old Man said as he sat back down, “now you know another part of who you are to him.”_   
_“I do,” she said wistfully as she gazed out at the horizon._   
_“What about him?” he asked softly, nodding towards Oliver._

_Oliver looked at Felicity quizzically. She had said something at the top of the butte that had him curious. She was studying him with a serious expression and her eyes no longer sparkled. Something had shifted in her and he was lost as to what it was._

_“Talk to me,” he murmured softly._   
_“I called you Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta,” she said softly, so softly the wind almost took her words away, “it made sense up on the top of the butte.”_   
_“And it doesn’t now?”_   
_“I think it makes more sense.”_   
_“Felicity,” he said with a hint of frustration creeping into his voice, “leave the riddles for him.”_   
_“Ok, ok,” she soothed with a smile, “I’ll tell you. It’s yet another name for you, Oliver Queen. When I found you up on the summit, you were surrounded by clouds, or fog, and it was dark inside of it, like you were in nighttime and I was in daytime. You were stuck in darkness with just the stars overhead for light and that small fire for warmth...”_   
_“But you cleared the way for me…,” he finished for her._   
_“Yes, but it fit for you to be in night and me in day because Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta means Warrior in the Sacred Star’s Shadow. I think you were under Polaris, the North Star.”_   
_“How did you find me?”_   
_“You listened.”_   
_“You are getting to be as bad as him,” he said, gesturing at the Old Man as he did._   
_“Stop!” she laughed, “You needed to hear me with more than just your ears.”_   
_“I know. I needed...I needed something to let go in me.”_   
_“Oliver,” she said quietly, “your stories belong to you but they have left welts deep inside your heart and soul.”_

_He looked at her and saw the genuine caring, love and compassion radiating out of her. She was humming with emotion and he could feel the vibrations of it rattling something loose deep within his heart. Unbeknownst to him, tears had begun to flow down his face. It was only when Felicity gently wiped his cheeks and pulled him into an embrace that he realized he was crying._

_“Oliver,” she whispered, “what is it? What’s wrong?”_   
_“Nothing,” he laughed softly as he pulled her tight to his body, “I feel good like something...left me.”_   
_“Finally!” the Old Man exclaimed, “You’ve been carrying that hurt around so long, it was almost completely woven up into your soul.”_   
_“You are a crafty one,” Oliver smiled._   
_“Not as crafty as your friend over there,” he replied with a snort of derision as Coyote howled in delight._   
_“Why does she follow us?” Felicity asked._   
_“She is part of both of you now. She’ll always come when you need her.”_   
_“What about you?” Oliver asked._   
_“I’ve got places to be. We might meet again,” the Old Man said with a wink as he got up._   
_“You haven’t told us your name,” Felicity prompted._   
_“I haven’t, have I,” he mused softly as he eyed them up, “Some call me Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka, some call me Tunkashila.”_   
_“What do they mean?” Oliver asked._   
_“You’ll find out.”_

_Oliver looked at Felicity in confusion and when they looked back, the Old Man was gone._

_“Well, that was interesting,” Oliver remarked dryly._   
_“I think the real question is why are we not awake,” Felicity remarked._   
_“Time to go for a walk?”_   
_“I guess so. I hate walking.”_   
_“I know which means you need to do it more,” he teased as he stood up. Reaching down for her hand, he helped her to her feet and together they set off down the path in front of them._

_They walked in companionable silence until they got to the cabin. Felicity held him back for just a moment. He knew something was bubbling up that she would need to say, so he waited patiently for her to form the words. It was a secret pleasure of his, the wait as she organized her thoughts and slowed down her mind enough to speak._

_“I think we have something else that needs to be said to each other before we go inside,” she said hesitantly._   
_“Like what?” he asked curiously._   
_“Tell me. What really made you cry.”_   
_“I don’t know how,” he admitted._   
_“What does that mean? You don’t have words for it?”_   
_“Yup.”_   
_“Oliver,” she said sternly, “Try.”_

_Taking a deep breath, Oliver smoothed her hair off of her face and watched the way the setting sun’s light played across her face. It flowed across the contours of her cheeks and lit the gold in her eyes on fire. If he could, he would stay in this moment forever with just the two of them._

_“It was you. You were...humming, vibrating next to me...and something shook loose inside me. I felt it go and I felt lighter…”_   
_“Oliver…”_   
_“Felicity, what can I say?” he chuckled, “You shook something loose in my heart and I felt...you.”_   
_“I love you,” she said with a gentle smile._   
_“I love you, too,” he smiled back._

_“Are you two about done?” came a familiar voice from the cabin’s rickety porch, “The tea is almost ready. Come on up and sit.”_

_Arm in arm, they made their way to the porch and the rickety old rocking chairs. The view was spectacular from the cabin and they watched the enormous herd of buffalo flow over the prairies. Even though they were miles away, they could feel the vibration of their hooves travel up through the ground. It was a steady, persistent tremor that caused dust particles to rise into the air._

_“So when do we wake up?” Felicity asked._   
_“I don’t know. Seems like maybe you have more to say,” the Old Man mused as he put the heavy tray down on the porch railing so he could hand them their mugs of tea._   
_“Oliver told me though.”_   
_“Well, I guess it’s your turn.”_   
_“Me?”_   
_“Thunder Woman,” he chuckled, “You have your own revelations.”_

_Oliver looked at Felicity as he handed her the mug of tea the Old Man had poured her. At first she looked confused but then he watched her slowly realize what he was talking about. It was like watching the sun rise in the eastern sky._

_Felicity smiled and pulled him down so that he was kneeling in front of her and then she leaned forward so that her lips were next to his ear. He closed his eyes as he felt her warm breath flow across the sensitive skin of his neck. Whatever she was about to say was making her shy in front of the Old Man and he could see the Old Man was endeared by it._

_“I asked you if you wanted to live,” she whispered softly, “not for me but for you and you made your choice. It was an honest choice, one from your heart. Oliver, so long as we are honest with each other, the Old Man told me that our love would outlast the stars.”_

_She paused and pulled back to look at him, searching his face like she was memorizing every line in his face, then she smiled and lit up all the dark corners of his mind, chasing out the shadows that lingered in them._

_“I know things might not be perfect, that we’ll have our rough patches but we will be fine so long as we are honest with each other,” she whispered._   
_“Felicity…”_   
_“Shhh,” she said as she leaned forward, “You are my heart.”_

_And then she kissed him with a heartfelt tenderness that stole his breath and filled his heart and soul with light._

_“Time to go,” the Old Man said softly, “I am glad to have met you both.”_

_They looked up at the same time and caught a glimpse of the Old Man’s true form. It was like the centre of the Universe in the shape of a human body. Swirls of stars, galaxies, nebulas flowed around the edges of his form and then in a blink of an eye, he was gone._

_Oliver traced the outline of Felicity’s face with his fingertips, drawing her attention back to him. Her eyes were shining with happiness and love and he knew it was time to wake up._

III 

Felicity

 

Felicity opened her her eyes and found herself gazing into Oliver’s. He was smiling as she pulled herself awake and slowly focused on him. The sun was still well below the horizon and the storm was still lashing the coast with its fury. She didn’t care about the wind or rain, she didn’t care about the thunder or lightning. None of that mattered, only that moment as they awoke from the dream and the Old Man mattered. No words were needed, they simply moved towards one another, seeking the other’s gentle warmth.

Though they were both tired, their bodies betrayed them once again. All she wanted was to touch his skin, to feel his lips on hers and his hands on her body. There was no desperation or rush in the way they engaged. They simply reached out and found the soft yielding parts of their bodies that welcomed the other. Felicity felt his sharp hard corners and smoothed them with swells and curves of her own.

Oliver’s hand traveled the length of her body in a smooth, fluid motion. The rough callouses on the pads of his fingers sent shivers down her spine and her breathing slowly changed and deepened into a circular beat. She felt a euphoric joy flow between them that stripped her soul bare and filled her heart with a love she had never known or felt before.

“Oliver…,” she breathed, trying desperately to not break the moment.  
“Shhhh, love,” he murmured against her lips as he kissed her, “shhhhh…”

Maybe it was the softness of his voice, or the gentle way he opened her lips with his tongue, or the hand that slipped between her legs, but she had no clear memory of what it was that set her blood on fire and reduced her reality to only Oliver.

From that moment on, neither of them spoke. They simply followed their body’s cues and movements, communicating through touch and the gentle changes in the rhythm of their breathing. It was in how she felt the slow increase in the beat of his heart as her hands traveled over his broad chest. It was in the way his hand tightened on her thigh when she sucked his bottom lip for just a second. When his lips found the sensitive skin under her ear she wanted nothing more than to join their hearts forever.

They were lying on their sides and neither of them made any move to change that. Instead, Felicity simply lifted her top leg and laid it over his and moved closer to him, feeling his body respond to the heat of hers.

She lost track of where he began and she ended until he slowly guided his hard cock into her. For a moment they remained still and just breathed through the sensation of their joined bodies. The longer the moment went on, the more intense it became and the power of their connection grew deeper.

At the best of times, she felt protected by him. He could so easily wrap his arms around her and shield her with his body but right now, she felt cocooned by him. It was like they were metamorphosing into something new and it was taking shape in that moment. When he rolled his hips and ground his pelvis against her, she felt renewed.

They were in no rush. She wanted this moment to go on and on and on. When he was inside her, moving slowly but with purpose, she felt something close to ecstasy. Oliver tightened his arms around her and moved his body so that he was leaning slightly over her. She gasped softly as he rolled his hips and thrust deeper inside her, creating a delicious tension in her pelvis. All she could do was cling to him and let him control the rhythm.

It was like they couldn’t get close enough to each other, like they were trying to climb into each other’s skin. What she remembered later was the way his body vibrated against hers, the way she could feel his heart beating through his chest, and that everything in them synced together. She buried her face in his neck and let her body find that special place of pure pleasure. The spreading warmth from her pelvis caused her to shudder against him and she tightened her grip on his shoulders. With a soft cry, she found her way to her release and it felt like a wave washing over her, tossing her headlong into a riptide.

Oliver’s motion stilled and then she felt it. That one thing she would often wait for when he was nearing his own orgasm. He never made it only about himself, it was always about the two of them. It took her a while to figure it out but he would still his hips for just a moment, giving her a chance to anchor her body against his before allowing his own release to happen. Through it all, she planted kisses on his face and neck and continued to breathe through the aftershocks that threatened to tear her body apart,

He buried his face in her neck and rolled his hips hard one last time and came in a hot flood deep inside her. His hands were in her hair, he was breathing hard against her skin, but she felt the soft pull of his spirit and pressed herself against him. Neither one of them moved or attempted to speak. The only sound in their bedroom was the sound of their breathing. The storm still raged outside, thunder and lightning chasing each other across the sky and wind howled, but all that mattered was the way their bodies fit together and the current of love that flowed between them.

Oliver lightly stroked her hair and back while she traced the ridges of the muscles of his back. Nothing was said, or needed to be said, they simply breathed in sync with each other and allowed the tremors that ran under their skin to ebb and flow and finally still. It was a precious time for her as she felt this is when they were truly connected to all that was in the Universe.

Pulling her head back, Felicity sought out his eyes and saw love, desire and fear wrapped together. She knew he was afraid of what this all meant and how he was going to actually make it work but she knew they could do it so long as they remained honest with each other. Smiling, she kissed him, long and deep, giving him the reassurance he needed to calm his heart and mind.

“Felicity,” he whispered against her lips, “we need a no touching day.”  
“Impossible,” she chuckled softly as she traced the shape of a knife scar on his back.  
“I love you,” he said with heat in his voice.  
“I love you.”

Oliver gently cleaned them both, something that was so intimate and caring that all she could do was watch him as he tended to them both. She felt herself slipping into a kind of fugue as she connected all of the pieces of her dream, as well as the shared one, and with Oliver as he was in this moment. Tears slipped from her eyes as she saw him for who he really was. A powerful warrior whose heart, though scarred and damaged, loved with the limitless energy of the Universe.

“Hey,” he said in concern, “What is it?”  
“Nothing….everything,” she sputtered, “I was just thinking about all the dreams we’ve had and shared and that I feel like for the first time, I can really see you.”

Oliver took her hand and placed it over his heart. He didn’t say anything, he just let her feel the strength of it, of him, and the reassurance it brought her meant more than any words could ever express. While the storm continued to lash at the Capri coast, they slowly fell asleep with the knowledge that who they were now, and yet to become, was intrinsically linked to the other.

 

IV

Oliver

 

Oliver awoke just after dawn. The sun was still hidden behind a dense bank of clouds but the wind had died down. The rain fell heavy and thick obscuring the view from the bedroom window. All he could see was a uniform grey with no ocean or coastline visible but it didn’t matter. When Felicity opened her eyes and smiled at him, it was like the sun came out and pushed the darkness away, obliterating it.

He had had a dream once, back when they were about to take on Slade for the last time, where he tracked the path of a comet as it streaked across the night sky. He had never felt so alone, or so broken, as he did in that dream until the sun started to shine behind him. He could actually feel the warmth of it as it rose higher and higher, chasing the dense darkness of night away from him. When he turned to face it, he saw Felicity coming towards him. She brought the warmth and light of the sun, of life, to him then but he had never told her about it. It was something he kept for himself as a touchstone when things got tough and the darkness threatened to engulf him.

“We should get up,” he said quietly.  
“It’s still so early,” she protested as she burrowed under the covers.  
“I can hear your stomach grumbling,” he teased, “I thought it was thunder but…”  
“Careful, Queen.”  
“You stay here,” he murmured against the delicate skin of her throat, “I’ll go grab us something from the fridge.”  
“You should check on the power, too.”  
“Check,” he sighed as he got up, “A man’s work is never done.”

The pillow hit him square in the back of the head causing him to burst out into a loud, cackling laugh and he left the room to grab them some breakfast. The fridge had stayed cool overnight so nothing had spoiled. That was something he was grateful for when he peeked out at the road and saw debris and a couple of fallen trees blocking the highway.

Stepping out into the small herb garden, he was surprised to see hardly any damage. Just a few broken branches from the small lemon trees that shaded the western wall and some flowers blown off their stems. The breaker box was undamaged and the power flicked on without a hitch.

Picking up the orange juice, granola and yogurt on his way back through the kitchen, Oliver paused to listen to the wind. In all of his years in exile, the one thing he had taught himself to do on Lian Yu was listen to the wind. It could tell the story of a hurricane, a tempest or a light evening breeze just by how it travelled over the water. What he heard let him know that another swell was coming and that they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The wind carried a low, throaty howl that seems to come from the furthest reaches of the earth.

Felicity was sound asleep when he got back into the bedroom so he left her breakfast beside her and went to sit out on the small balcony. The wind had died down just enough for him to not feel in any danger from flying debris and the alone time wasn’t such a bad idea. She needed the rest after the day before and he needed to really think about their shared dreamtime.

The one thing that had stuck with him after waking earlier was the feel of her skin when they touched inside the dream. She always hummed with life but there she vibrated with such intensity that her skin felt electrified. When he woke up, the first thing he wanted to do was feel that energy again and he could, it was fainter but still present just under the surface of her skin.

All of it, the song, the lessons, the story, the Old Man and Coyote, he was piecing together the complete message and it was one that terrified him. Felicity had only shared her energy with him because she trusted him. Her heart was open to him but she had the strength to walk away if need be. He could never lie to her. If he did all of this would be rendered meaningless.

“Hey,” came a sleepy voice from behind him.  
“Hey, come and sit,” he said as he snapped out of his revere.  
“You were pretty lost in thought there for a minute. You ok?” she asked as she sat down next to him. She had brought a blanket out with her and wrapped it around them both to ward off the early morning chill.  
“I was just thinking about everything that happens when we fall asleep. Why didn’t you tell me you were having those kinds of dreams?”  
“I don’t know. I guess it just felt private, like I shouldn’t.”  
“Yeah. I guess it was supposed to be until we got to the top of the butte.”  
“We have some very strange night time activities, Oliver.”  
“We certainly do,” he smiled and wrapped his arm around her so he could pull her close and kissed the top of her head.  
“I’m cold. Come inside?”  
“Did you get your breakfast?”  
“I did and now I want to go back to sleep. Come on.”  
“I think we are stuck here for a bit. The road is blocked with debris and a couple of fallen trees.”  
“I don’t mind. I am enjoying how we keep busy.”  
“Why, Felicity Smoak,” he exclaimed with false shock, “I never knew you could be so brazen!”

 

As he watched her furiously blush, he laughed at her ability to still feel shy in front of him. She was gripping the blanket around her naked body and that awakened him in a way that pushed at the limits of his mind and body. Casually, he stepped on the corner of it as she walked past him towards the bed.

“Oliver!” she exclaimed as she grabbed the blanket.  
“What?” he said feigning innocence.  
“No touching for a while, I need...I need a break,” she said sheepishly.  
“Felicity,” he said softly as he crossed to her and pulled her into a gentle embrace, “You let me know. Ok? I can wait. Besides, the waiting makes it…”  
“Insanely intense?”  
“Mindbendingly intense,” he agreed with a chuckle.  
“Come on, let’s get back into bed,” she said softly.  
“Ok but you are going to have to share the blankets.”  
“Don’t I always?”  
“Nope!”  
“Liar.”  
“You just never know because I am always up before you. I have to be because I am freezing!”  
“Oliver!” she laughed as he scooped her up and carried her to the bed.  
“Just get back under the covers,” he laughed as he kissed her, “but please share.”

Laughing, they both settled back into the soft bed and back into each other’s arms. Oliver had never wanted this kind of peace before. He had assumed that the man he had become on the island would always be alone until he had met her. She had blown the blinders off of his eyes and showed him a world he had thought closed to him forever.

Now, as they lay quietly together in a land so far away from what they both considered home, he knew that a life with her was exactly what he wanted. It was time to go back to the States, time to create a life that allowed them to put down roots and maybe, just maybe, consider starting a family that was their’s and theirs alone.

“Felicity?”  
“Hmmm?”  
“How about we head back stateside in a week?”  
“Really?” she asked, sitting up so that she could look him in the eyes.  
“Yes, really,” he said softly.  
“To the resort and then Ivy Town?”  
“Yup.”  
“You won’t regret it?”  
“Nope. I’ll go anywhere with you.”

Felicity smiled and laid back down with her head on his chest. They both slipped into a dreamless sleep and remained motionless until the thunder crackled back into life shortly before noon.

 

V

 

Felicity

 

The next few days went by in a blur for Felicity. They had finally made their way off of Capri after a day and a half of waiting for crews to come and clear the roads. Not that she would ever complain as the days they spent together trapped in the cabin created memories that warmed her blood and set her soul on fire.

They explored Positano on bikes when they got back to their villa. She hated it but she followed Oliver’s lead and off they went through the winding streets and narrow cobblestoned alleyways. Felicity had brought a map which Oliver refused to read and they promptly got lost. They bickered and sniped at each other, each pointing in opposite directions, when an old woman and her granddaughter stopped to laugh at them. The granddaughter took their photo with a Polaroid camera and gave the picture to them. It calmed them down, making them both laugh at themselves and each other, and they eventually figured out where they were going.

Their final night in Positano was one she would remember for the rest of her life. Oliver had found the restaurant with the rooftop dining room that they had stumbled across completely by accident their first week in the small village and made a reservation for them. He had reserved the small dining area for them for the entire night and surprised her with it when she thought they were going to the harbour to experience Positano nightlife.

There were candles and small fairy lights wound through the rose bushes and the trellis that held up the wisteria. He had preordered dinner so all they had to do was show up and sit down. It was probably the most romantic thing he could have done and she loved him with an intensity that took her breath away.

“Oliver,” she breathed, “this is beautiful.”  
“I wanted to do something special for you.”  
“What about Capri? That was wonderful,” she said as she remembered the grotto.  
“It was but I wanted our last night here to be a different kind of wonderful.”  
“Oliver Queen, the hopeless romantic,” she teased.  
“Only for you,” he laughed.

The dinner was lovely but it was the moments after dinner that were the clearest in her memory. There was an old radio playing classical music somewhere nearby and when it switched to something more contemporary yet still in the waltz category, Oliver pulled her to her feet and slowly swayed to the music, holding her held tightly to him.

“Oliver, promise me we'll dance when we get stateside.”  
“Only in private.”  
“Come on! Can you imagine Thea’s face?” she laughed.  
“I can. Which is why we will dance but only in private.”  
“You’ll be my private dancer?” she asked with a wink.  
“Oh God, Felicity,” he groaned in mock disbelief and horror.

Just then fireworks started going off above the harbour. Pulling him to the rooftop’s edge, behind a trestle covered with ivy and wisteria, they watched the display and listened to the cheering and applause from somewhere down by the water’s edge. Oliver stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. It was comfortable and familiar. She felt protected and loved. But they continued to sway gently to the music and the effects on both of them were beginning to take on a life of their own.

“Oliver we should go,” she whispered as his hands traveled over her body.  
“We can leave any time, I paid in advance,” he murmured against her neck.  
“If we don’t leave now, we are going to get arrested,” she chuckled. But then she felt his hot breath on her neck and threw caution to the wind. They were hidden from view behind an abundance of flowering vines and plants, with only the tiny fairy lights to illuminate the way back to their table.

Pressing back into him, Felicity slowly increased the way her hips moved against him. She felt his arm tighten around her waist and his free hand slowly slipped below the waistband of her skirt. Oliver was wasting no time in reaching his destination with his long fingers.

“No underwear?” he whispered in her ear.  
“The skirt is long and flowy,” she gasped as he circled her clit in a quick, pulsing rhythm.  
“It is sexy a hell,” he murmured while he gently slipped two of his fingers inside her.  
“Oh my God, Oliver,” she moaned in a low voice.  
“Shhh, someone might hear you,” he chuckled softly.  
“Then we better hurry,” she said in a low, breathy whisper. She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his fingers slipping in and out of her body, and they way the heel of his hand pressed against her clit, edge her closer to her release.

Felicity felt her legs start to tremble and held onto Oliver to keep from falling to the ground. Angling her head back, she sought out his lips and was rewarded with a kiss so full of desire and heat that the world fell away until all she could hear was the song of his heart.

She shuddered and gasped as quietly as she could, hanging onto the arm he had wrapped around her waist. Oliver eased her through her climax and slowly withdrew his hand from beneath her skirt. Together, they regained some semblance of calm and rejoined the present.

“Oliver, I think we need to go,” she sighed.  
“Give me a minute or two,” he murmured softly.  
“You mean that’s-”  
“Don’t-”  
“a banana in your-”  
“Say-.”  
“Pocket?”  
“It.”

Felicity laughed as Oliver groaned at her cheesy joke but she was relaxed, calm and looking forward to whatever the future had in store for them both. Some days, she could hardly believe they were where they were. And tonight was no exception. He was always amazing her as the walls he had so carefully built around his heart came tumbling down.

“Ready?” he asked, drawing her back to him a few minutes later.  
“Hmmm? Yes,” she sighed, “let’s go.”

Taking her by the hand, Oliver lead her through the restaurant and down to the street where they waited for the old Fiat and restaurant owner. Once again, he drove them back to their villa and had them laughing at his decades old jokes and deep, rich baritone laugh.

They barely made it inside the villa before Oliver had lifted her up and was carrying her to their bedroom. They hadn’t been intimate for a couple of days, earlier that evening notwithstanding, and the desire and longing was boiling and seething in every look and touch. She could feel the way his body vibrated and wanted only to feel his skin, his hands, his tongue and cock.

She undid his shirt with shaking fingers while he pulled her blouse up and over her head. They didn’t bother with words in what was a race to get their clothes off. Felicity undid his pants, feeling how hard he was already, while he lifted her face so that he could kiss her. He teased her mouth open and lightly ran his tongue across the inside of her bottom lip. She paused in undressing him just long enough for him to lift her up and carry her to their bed.

“Oliver, take your pants off,” she said in a low, soft voice.  
“Not until I take your skirt off,” he growled.  
“Hurry,” was the last thing she could remember saying later on.

Oliver discarded his pants, underwear, socks and shoes in one fell swoop. He climbed on the bed and on top of her and gently rubbed his erect cock up and over her clit. She didn’t need him to do anything else but he traveled down her body, stopping to kiss, lick or suck her skin the entire journey. Felicity closed her eyes and waited for him to decide what he wanted to do. It was always different and never failed to cause her to experience ecstasy.

She felt Oliver’s breath pass over her sensitive skin and shivered. Then his mouth was covering hers and he was gently pushing into her, thrusting slowly in and out. She didn’t care about the lack of foreplay this time, she just wanted him, only him.

This time, she set the rhythm but moving her hips hard and fast against him.

“God, Felicity,” he gasped, “Are you sure?”

She answered him by wrapping her legs around his waist and ground her pelvis down on his as hard as she could. It triggered something completely primal in him. She felt his arms tighten around her and his knees come up to anchor his body so that he could meet her thrust for thrust.

Her orgasm was like an electric shock that traveled her entire body. It came on almost without warning and she cried out in a long low, bliss filled moan. Oliver came hard and hot inside her moments later and collapsed on top of her. They clung to each other in the sudden quiet of the room and slowly regained their breath.

“Well,” he sighed, “that was insanely fast.”  
“Think you’ll be ready for seconds soon?” she laughed.  
“I hope so!”  
“You know what I would like?” she asked as she traced the scar above his heart with the lightest of touches.  
“A bath in the most perfect tub ever created?”  
“You read my mind.”

Oliver pulled her to him and they laid quietly, limbs entwined, listening to the gentle waves washing over the beach below. Felicity was going to miss the villa, the star filled skies, the gentle Mediterranean breeze and peace of knowing they were together.

“We sure move fast, don’t we?” she chuckled.  
“It’s nice to just...be,” he said softly.  
“I love that voice almost as much as the Arrow’s deep growly one,” she smiled.  
“You love all my voices,” he teased as he rubbed his beard into her neck and shoulder.  
“Oliver!” she laughed, “You know that tickles!”  
“Your skin is so soft,” he said with a gentle sigh.

Felicity shivered as he gently kissed the soft skin at the base of her throat. Experimentally, she dragged her nails gently across the base of his neck, just below his hairline, and felt him freeze. His breath rushed hot and fast across her neck as he rose up above her.

“You just had to go and do that, didn’t you?” he asked in a low, passion filled whisper.  
“I had to try,” she chuckled.  
“Yes, you certainly did,” he smiled, “let’s go have a bath.”  
“With just the moon and stars?”  
“With just the moon and the stars.”

Felicity looked into eyes that reflected the depths of the universe and she saw him. How he had allowed himself to be broken, resurrected and broken again. A cycle based in love, loyalty and devotion for the people in his life and she knew she would travel to the ends of the earth with him just because she wanted to be part of his journey.

“We’re making the right decision,” he said softly.  
“The bath?” she asked momentarily confused.  
“No,” he laughed gently, “Going home.”  
“That, too,” she smiled up at him, “But first…”  
“Bath time.”

That night, as they soaked in the tub under a full moon and a sky full of stars, they talked about the kind of house they wanted. They debated on how big the yard should be, if the living room opened out onto a patio or deck. They went back and forth over whether they needed a dining room or just an eat in kitchen.

When the conversation swung over to paint colours, Oliver groaned and distracted her by gently kissing her neck and shoulders. When the topic of a kitchen came around, Felicity groaned and and pulled his attention to her hips, which she ground firmly against his making small tsunamis in the hot water, and felt his body respond accordingly.

“Forget about the kitchen,” she murmured against his lips.  
“What kitchen?” he smiled as he slowly reached between her legs, stroking her clit until she gasped in ecstasy.  
“Should we leave the bath?” she asked.  
“No, remember the grotto?”

Smiling, Felicity grasped him gently and slowly eased down his hard cock. Oliver pressed his forehead against hers and tightened his hold on her hips. Using the powerful muscles of her thighs, she slowly recreated the motions and movements from the grotto. That wondrous cavern of luminous blue water that bubbled so effervescently around them.

That night, under the watchful eye of a low hanging full moon, Oliver pulled her as close as they could get to one another and together they rocked their bodies in unison. Felicity felt the moment when she was sure their spirits reached out for the other and she welcomed him in, like the day welcomes the night.

 

_VI_

_Oliver_   
_An Epilogue of Sorts_

_The day they left Positano behind, Oliver made a silent promise to himself and Felicity that they would return. The Amalfi coast had welcomed them with open arms and he would never forget the soft, quiet moments he and Felicity had shared in the villa, in the cottage on Capri and in the grotto. What would also stay with him were the dreams and the meanings layered within them._

_Looking at her now, as she sat on the small deck of the cabin they rented just outside of Ivy Town, he marveled at her patience with him as he tried to adjust back to life so near to the newly named Star City. He had a few lapses in his temper the first few days and had to apologize with haute cuisine and bubble baths. Which he was surprised to discover he enjoyed as well._

_They had picked the perfect time to come back to the coast, he thought, the late autumn light worshipped her. It flowed around her like liquid gold. It bathed her in a radiance he wasn’t sure was fair to other women. When she looked up and saw him watching her, she smiled and opened her arms to him._

_Later that night, under a canopy of softly pulsing starlight, they laid in bed listening to the crackle of the fire that Oliver had laid earlier that evening in their bedroom and talked in quiet tones about the move the next day. He was excited, terrified, and almost deliriously happy._

_When he started to recite the dimensions of the kitchen, she found a way to make him forget. He would never tell her that he did it on purpose, knowing that her hands would run across the seams of his scars, trace the lines of the tattoos and that she would find her way on top of him._

_It was at this moment, when their future has yet to map itself out for them to find, Without her, he was forsaken. A man of parts that held no unity. He knew he was responsible for the rest of his journey but that night, as she offered her body not as a reward but as a sacrament, he felt finally worthy of her._

_No matter what came next, no matter the challenge, no matter the miles they traveled or how many times Coyote came for a visit, Felicity would always be the one who would hold the light that held his heart._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pronunciation Guide
> 
> 1\. Oliver's Name  
> Ohanzee Wicapiwakan Akecheta ( Warrior in the Sacred Star’s Shadow)  
> Ohanzee - (Oh-ahn-zee) shadowed, shaded, in shadow  
> Wicapiwakan - (Wee-chapi-wah-kan) sacred stars (wakan - sacred, Wicapi - stars)  
> Akecheta - (Ah-key-cheatah) warrior
> 
> 2\. Felicity's Name  
> Wakíŋyaŋ Kȟáŋ Tȟa Winyan (Thunder in Her Veins Woman)  
> Wakíŋyaŋ - (Walk-een-yan) Thunder  
> Kȟáŋ - (Kh-an) Veins  
> Tȟa - (Th - ah) Through [her]  
> Winyan - (Win-yahn) Woman
> 
> 3\. The Old Man  
> Wakan Tanka - (Walk-an Tahnka) The Great Mystery, The Creator  
> Tunkashila - (Tunk-ah-sheela) Grandfather


End file.
